[/floatl]AP: N. Korea won't send women's football side to Tokyo
North Korea is not sending its women's football team to the East Asian championship in Tokyo next month, Japanese media reported Tuesday. Japan's government had said it would provide entry visas for the North Korean team to compete in the event as an exception to Tokyo's sanctions in protest at missile and nuclear tests by the communist nation. But North Korea did not apply for visas by the Jan. 8 deadline, according to Kyodo News Agency. Taiwan will replace the North Koreans in the Feb. 6-14 four-nation tournament, which also includes China, South Korea and Japan, Kyodo said, quoting the East Asian Football Federation Chairman Junji Ogura. Officials at Japanese football associations were not available for comment late Tuesday. Last month, Japan's National Public Safety Commission Chairman Hiroshi Nakai said he was against granting the North Korean team an entry permit while the sanctions are in place, apparently triggering Pyongyang's displeasure.
This had become a diplomatic hot potato as the terms of Japan's sanctions clashed with their obligations as hosts of the tournament. The North Korean men's football squad will be participating in the 2010 World Cup so any move to ban the women's team from this competition would have created a difficult precedent for Japan's own bid to host future World Cups.
