The government has decided not to issue multiple-entry visas to foreigners visiting Japan next year for the World Cup finals because of concerns over hooligans, government sources said Sunday.
The government instead plans to simplify procedures for issuing visas to foreign bearers of tickets to the World Cup, which Japan is cohosting with South Korea, the sources said.
The government fears that either granting World Cup ticket holders multiple-entry visas, which allow people to enter the country several times within a certain period, or exempting them from having to obtain visas could make it easier for hooligans to get in, they said.
Government officials initially considered issuing multiple-entry visas because it feared its embassies could be swamped by visa applications, with several hundred thousand people expected to visit Japan during the finals.
Government officials said South Korea will likely handle immigration for foreign World Cup ticket holders in a different way, since it already has a greater number of visa-exemption agreements with countries other than Japan, the officials said.
The two agreed late last year to issue multiple-entry visas good for entry between May and July 2002 to executives and officials of FIFA, soccer's international governing body, through late 2002. They will also be issued to players, coaches and journalists.
Meanwhile, Tokyo has asked the Japanese and South Korean organizing committees for the World Cup to make sure the tickets bear the identity of the original holders as a measure to crack down on touts.