TOKYO, Jan. 12 Kyodo
(EDS: UPDATES)
The North Korean women's national soccer team has pulled out of next month's East Asian championship in Tokyo and will be replaced by Taiwan, the Japan Football Association said Tuesday.
The move comes a week after Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said Japan would allow the team to compete in an exception to the country's sanctions on Pyongyang, including a visa paper bag printing ban against citizens of the reclusive nation.
North Korea was set to play in the four-nation tournament with hosts Japan, China and South Korea but it did not apply for entry visas to Japan by the Jan. 8 deadline or file an application to participate in the tournament.
In December, Hiroshi Nakai, chairman of the National Public Safety Commission who concurrently serves as state minister for the North Korean abduction issue, said he was ''obviously opposed'' to granting them entry as the sanctions are in effect.
Despite getting the green light to come to Japan, North Korea was unhappy with Nakai's comments and made the decision to pull the plug on the Feb. 6-14 meet on Monday.
The North Koreans will be slapped with a fine of up to brochure printing $10,000 for breaching tournament regulations but no further sanctions are expected.
Japan's ban on almost all visits by North Koreans has been in place as part of its sanctions imposed after Pyongyang's nuclear test in 2006. The North test-fired a ballistic missile over Japan and conducted its second nuclear test last year.
Rules of soccer's world governing body FIFA require full independence of national associations from political interference. A government move to ban a foreign national team's entry is seen as risking suspension from FIFA.
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