Stadium in disaster area to host Japan’s final group match at Tokyo 2020



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The Japanese women's soccer team's group campaign in Tokyo 2020 is set to end at Miyagi Stadium in the Tōhoku region © Getty Images

The Japanese women’s football team are expected to conclude their group stage campaign at the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the region devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

FIFA has confirmed that Japan’s third group match will take place on July 27 at the 49,000-seat Miyagi Stadium in Rifu City.

Football is among the sports that will be partially staged in the Tōhoku region at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, postponed from July 23 to August 8 this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Organizers hope to use these events to show the recovery of the area severely affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, which sparked a nuclear incident at the Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima.

More than 15,000 died as a result of the disaster.

The Japanese women’s football team won the FIFA World Cup just months after the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster of 10 years ago.

Japan will be among those in contention for Olympic gold at the Tokyo 2020 women's football tournament © Getty Images
Japan will be among those in contention for Olympic gold at the Tokyo 2020 women’s soccer tournament © Getty Images

They are due to play their two other group matches at Sapporo Dome.

The Miyagi Stadium, located near the prefectural capital Sendai, was among the sites that were not damaged by a 7.3 magnitude earthquake that hit Japan’s east coast 10 days ago.

The earthquake – with a six on Japan’s seismic scale, the second highest level – shook buildings and triggered power outages, and was felt as far away as the Japanese capital.

He was 7.3 on the Richter scale.

Kashima Stadium, which was also due to host football matches at the Games, and all temporary facilities were undamaged, according to Tokyo 2020.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Women’s Football Tournament runs from July 21 – two days before the opening ceremony – to August 6.



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