We would like to inform you that the J.League Board of Directors has approved our club's U-23 team's withdrawal from the 2020 Meiji Yasuda J3 League.
□Reason for Declining Participation
・Securing stadiums is difficult
There are limited stadiums available for use in the J3 League within Tokyo. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire sports community will resume activities in the future, but related to the Olympics and Paralympics, and in soccer competitions, the J-League will have to accommodate many matches in a short period, including the number of matches that could not be held for about four months. Additionally, other organizations outside the J-League, such as Nadeshiko, amateur, university, and high school soccer, will also have concentrated schedules, making it expected that the availability of stadiums will become tight.
In Tokyo, we use AJINOMOTO FIELD NISHIGAOKA, Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium, and Yumenoshima Stadium; however, not only for soccer competitions but also due to overlapping schedules with other sports organizations and the impact of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, securing stadiums is expected to become extremely difficult.
□ Comment from President Naoki Ogane
“Since the 2016 season, we have formed a U-23 team as a development-type club to accelerate development and build from the bottom up, participating in the J3 League. Although this season was the final year, we have decided to withdraw for the reasons mentioned above. Amid various schedule changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, securing stadiums has become difficult, and while it is regrettable, we have made this decision. We intend to continue moving forward without stopping as a development-type club. We sincerely apologize for the great inconvenience caused to all J3 clubs and related parties by withdrawing at this time.”
Finally, although it was a short period of four years, I would like to express my gratitude to everyone involved in the J-League and to all the representatives of the J3 clubs who accepted our participation.
