Seoul protests fuel Japan World Cup row

A 2002 poster outside a stadium in Yokohama

The dispute between World Cup 2002 co-hosts South Korea and Japan escalated after fans staged protests outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul.

The demonstrators are calling for Japan to be stripped of the right to hold next summer's tournament final unless they agree to use the word "Korea" ahead of "Japan" on ticket application forms.

The dispute is threatening to develop into a full-scale diplomatic rift that would overshadow the first world cup tournament to be held in Asia.

Only a dozen or so South Korean fans were involved in the protests.

But they follow threats by South Korean football chiefs to lodge an official protest with Fifa over Japan's behaviour.

South Korea say Japan are breaking a 1996 Fifa agreement which granted the prestigious final in the tournament to the Japanese capital Tokyo, but officially named the competition as "2002 Fifa World Cup Korea/Japan".

Korean World Cup Organising Committee (KOWOC) co-chairman Chung Mong-Joon, a Fifa vice-president, maintained a diplomatic silence on the dispute at a press conference to give details of ticket sales which start on February 15.

In Tokyo, a Japanese World Cup Organising Committee (JAWOC) official said he would be happy for the matter to be referred to Fifa.

"We hope this will be settled as quickly as possible. We understand that Fifa will make a final decision when its top officials are to meet next month.

"Japan is ready to follow their decision. But we believe our claim is common sense. For example, in Japan, the security treaty between Japan and the United States is called Japan-US Security Treaty. In the United States, its name is the other way round (US-Japan Security Treaty)."

Fifa are expected to discuss the issue on March 15.