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Source: Reuters -
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New Zealand U-17 football team will travel to Japan tomorrow as planned for the Sanix Cup, but the tournament will take place without their Japanese counterparts.
The 16 team Sanix Cup sees the Young All Whites play six games in four days in Fukuoka on the southern island of Kyushu and is the first leg of an Asian tour that also takes in two games against the Qatar's Aspire Academy in Doha.
Following the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the northeast coast of Honshu on Friday, New Zealand Football sought advice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and also the tournament organisers before confirming the team's participation.
"What's going on in elsewhere in Japan is beyond belief really," said New Zealand coach Steve Cain.
"It's the kind of situation you wouldn't wish on anybody. All we can do is contribute in any way we can and that's maybe to help some people restore or continue some kind of normality."
"We are about 1500 kilometres away from where the troubles are. There are no safety concerns for us or the tour wouldn't be going ahead.
"It's a pretty important part of our build up and we are looking forward to playing but we will do whatever we can while we are over there to empathise with the Japanese people. Both countries have suffered recently and hopefully we can show some sort of solidarity with them."
The Japanese Football Association (JFA) suspended the weekend's J-League fixtures and withdrew their U-17 team from the Sanix Cup, something that Cain described as "disappointing but completely understandable."
Meanwhile New Zealand Football is continuing preparations for the All Whites match against Japan in Tokyo but is monitoring the situation and is in dialogue with the JFA and MFAT.
Following the Sanix Cup, New Zealand U-17s travel to Qatar for two friendlies against the Aspire Academy.
"We received an invitation from Aspire which is a state of the art class facility and produces exceptional teams with players from all over Africa and Asia who go on to get professional contract in clubs all over the world. They will be very high calibre opposition for us."
