Japan presents plan for 2022 World Cup

Japan's bid committee for the 2022 World Cup has made a presentation to an inspection team from FIFA, the international governing body for soccer.

The 5-person FIFA delegation arrived in Japan on Sunday on the first leg of its tour of candidate sites vying to host the World Cup in 2018 and 2022.

Japan's presentation was made on Tuesday in Osaka City, where Japan plans to stage the final match. Chairman of the bid committee Motoaki Inukai said that Japan will extend warm hospitality to both players and supporters. He stressed that Japan will also deliver to the world highly realistic 3-D images of the World Cup games using state-of-the-art technology.

Osaka City Mayor Kunio Hiramatsu showed the FIFA inspectors blueprints and a model of a new stadium to be constructed in the central part of the city. The eco-friendly, solar-powered stadium would be the venue for the final match.

After the presentation, Inukai told reporters that Japan's bid, which featured the catchphrase "208 smiling faces"
-- referring to the 208 FIFA member countries and regions -- seemed fairly well received by all the members of the FIFA inspection team.

Japan, Australia, South Korea and Qatar have submitted bids to host the World Cup in 2022. Applications for both the 2018 and 2022 events came from England, Russia and the United States, as well as 2 joint bids pairing Spain with Portugal, and Belgium with the Netherlands. FIFA is due to select the sites for both World Cups in December.