The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Tokyo

The J-League, seeking to expand its fan base overseas, plans to set up a spot at each club for an Asian player from outside Japan, a spokeswoman said today.

The J-League has pulled in talent from Latin America and Europe but has attracted relatively few players from other Asian countries with the exception of South Korea.

Each club is currently allowed three foreign players. Under the change, each would have the right to sign a fourth foreigner, but only from another Asian country.

J-League executives have approved the motion, which will be sent for formal approval by the Japan Football Association board next month, a league spokeswoman said.

League chairman Kenji Onitake said the move was aimed at improving the level of Japanese football as well as expanding the league's fan base to other parts of Asia.

"We are hoping that this will let players compete with Asian players and improve themselves and at the same time expand our business market through broadcasting rights," Onitake told reporters on Tuesday.

Football is wildly popular across Southeast Asia, where many fans avidly follow the English Premier League and other foreign competitions.

The J-League was launched in 1993 with a number of foreign stars including Brazil's Zico and Germany's Pierre Littbarski.

But it has failed to dethrone baseball as the national sport of Japan, where sumo is also widely watched.

The Asian player idea is one of the reforms spearheaded by the football association's president, Motoaki Inukai, in a bid to revitalise the J-League since he took over in July. Inukai, former president of Urawa Red Diamonds, the Asian club champions, has also pushed for the league to hold its season from the autumn through spring starting in 2010 to coincide with the European football season.

Currently J-League games take place from March through December, a schedule supported by clubs in cities with heavy snow.