Niigata, Kashima and Yokohama were named Thursday as venues for Japan's portion of FIFA's Confederations Cup, which will run from May 30 to June 10.

The tournament will serve as a rehearsal for next year's World Cup finals, which will be cohosted by Japan and South Korea.

The venues chosen by the Japan Football Association are expected to be approved by FIFA at a Confederations Cup committee meeting in Zurich on March 14.

The final of the eight-nation tournament will be at Yokohama International Stadium on June 10.

Apart from the joint hosts, the other teams taking part in the cup are Brazil, Canada, France, Cameroon, Australia and Mexico.

The eight participating teams will be divided into two groups of four. The draw has tentatively been scheduled for March 19, possibly on Cheju Island off the south coast of South Korea. Cheju is one of the venues for the 2002 World Cup finals.

In Japan, a brand-new stadium in Niigata and the renovated Kashima Stadium in Ibaraki Prefecture will each stage three first-round games, starting June 1. As well as the final, Yokohama will also hold one semifinal match.

The remaining matches will take place in South Korea, most likely at Suwon, Taegu and Ulsan.

Foreigners can play

The JFA decided on Thursday to open the door for non-Japanese teams registered with the JFA to participate in national tournaments from April.

At the moment, non-Japanese teams can only participate in the National High School Championship and the National Junior High School Championship.

Following Thursday's decision, teams can now take part in tournaments such as the National Company Championship and the JFL, as well as various age-specific tournaments.

There are a total of 99 non-Japanese teams registered with the JFA, of which 94 are teams consisting of Japan-based Koreans.