18 Sep 2003(Thu)

There can be no doubt that the Ｊ.League has quickly become an integral part of the Ｊapanese sports scene.

Even though it kicked off only in 1993, the league is firmly established and most of the clubs have become a part of their respective communities.

But this does not mean Ｊ.League officials are going to sit back, relax, and stop thinking of further developments.

I heard this week that at least one match commissioner appealed for fair play and an attractive match last Saturday, because another sport was beginning a national league and was fighting for a new audience.

The sport in question is rugby union, whose 12-team Top League kicked off last Saturday at Tokyo National Stadium.

The match commissioner, whose Ｊob is to bring together representatives before the game, told the meeting that rugby offered sports fans a new choice on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

It was important, therefore, for the Ｊ.League teams to put on a good, clean, attacking show to make sure the crowds keep coming to watch.

I thought this was very interesting news.

It doesn't mean the Ｊ.League is worried about rugby, Ｊust that the players have a responsibility to the game at large.

As a sports reporter, I have covered rugby in England, Hong Kong and Ｊapan, and know the attraction of the game.

Especially this year, as the Rugby World Cup will be held in Australia in October and November, and Ｊapan will play Scotland, France, FiＪi and the United States.

In England and Hong Kong, totally different audiences watched each sport.

In England, rugby was for the upper-middle classes, and soccer was the working man's game.

Rugby fans thought soccer fans were all hooligans and barbarians, and soccer fans thought rugby fans were snobs who had been born with a silver spoon in their mouth.

In Hong Kong, soccer was the sport for the local Chinese, and rugby for the expatriates from Britain, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere.

Perhaps the Ｊ.League's maＪor concern is that there may be a rugby boom in 2003 like there was a Ｊ.League boom in 1993.

The fact that 35,000 turned up to watch Kobe Steel against Suntory in the opening game of the new rugby season shows that the interest is there, and always has been in rugby due to its huge popularity in universities.

But the rugby clubs are still only company offshoots, with little identity or roots in the hometown itself.

This is where the Ｊ.League got it right, by insisting that clubs concentrate on the community as a whole and not Ｊust take the company money.

I don't think the Ｊ.League has much to worry about with rugby. Both sports can run side by side as there is a wide range of spectator out there.

Still, it is interesting to see the Ｊ.League has noticed a new challenger.

ends