FUZHOU, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- The officials of Asian Universities Sports Federation (AUSF) praised the preparation work for the 2018 AUSF Asian Football Cup and expected a good start of the new tournament in South China's Jinjiang City.
Goutam Kar, technical delegate of 2018 AUSF Asian Football Cup, told Xinhua on Saturday that he was very much satisfied with what he have seen on Friday.
"The middle school facilities are good, and the college conditions are excellent. Some venues need to make some small changes and I pointed them out. All the people are working very hard, preparing to welcome the tournament," said Kar.
"They did all the things we asked. They followed our instructions. I think Jinjiang City is well prepared and I'm happy to see that." added Kar, "Now we're discussing some details with the organizing committee. I'm very much sure that the Asian Cup, as a new soccer tournament for the college students, will have a good start. I'm confident that it'll be a great success."
Hisato Igarashi, AUSF assessor, visited some venues, dorms and cafeterias on Friday.
"The organizing committee is doing the best to prepare the tournament. This is the first time for the people to see what the competition is like. There are always many difficulties for the first show," said Igarashi.
In the meantime, he urged the organizers to make more efforts to draw public interest in the event. "News media and sponsorship are very important to make the tournament become popular," he said.
Xue Yanqing, chairman of AUSF, told Xinhua that he hoped the event would help improve China's college soccer.
"The Asian Cup will help the Chinese students to improve through playing against strong teams like South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Iran," Xue said.
The 2018 AUSF Football Cup will take place in Jinjiang from Oct. 29 to Nov. 11. Sixteen men's teams and seven women's teams representing the universities from Asian countries and regions will gather for the event. China will send one men's team and two women's teams to join the competition.
Jinjiang will be the host city of the four consecutive AUSF Football Cups in 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024, as well as the biennial International University Sports Federation (FISU) World Cups in 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2025.
