Japan Football Association (JFA) president Tsuneyasu Miyamoto has announced a policy to actively promote the transfer of more Japanese players to the English Premier League. He revealed the plan during an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) seminar in Tokyo, stating that the English top flight provides the optimal environment for player development.

Miyamoto, a former Japan defender who captained the national team at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, outlined the current landscape. "We have nine players who are playing for Premier League clubs and also eight players are playing for second division clubs," he said. He then added, "But still, we would like to send more players to the English Premier League because the league offers the players the best environment to become top-class players. That's our aim."

The National Team Context

This push for overseas experience comes as the Samurai Blue are in strong form. The team is unbeaten in its last four matches, with three wins and a draw. Their most recent victory was a 2-1 win over New Zealand on October 5th, where goals from Ayase Ueda and Ritsu Doan secured the result. The team's top scorer this season is Hidemasa Morita with three goals in ten appearances. The next challenge for Japan is a high-profile home friendly against Brazil on November 14th.

The AFC meetings in Tokyo were also attended by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who is traveling in Asia ahead of the FIFA presidential election scheduled for March. The AFC's 47 member associations represent a significant bloc of votes. Infantino recently apologized in Zurich for mistakes made in a now-abandoned $4.2 billion plan to sell off World Cup commercial rights.

Most of the AFC meetings were closed to the media, with the closing address delivered by AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa. Miyamoto's comments, made on this international stage, clearly signal Japan's strategic focus on leveraging the world's most-watched league to cultivate the next generation of talent, with an eye on future World Cup campaigns.

Background and full detail: thestar.com