'Nadeshiko' Japan gets bigger grants

Players of the women's national soccer team, which won the World Cup for the first time last month in Germany, will each receive twice as much grant money per month to assist in covering the costs of their sporting activities.

The National Agency for the Advancement of Sports and Health said Monday that the 21 members of "Nadeshiko" Japan will each have their allowance raised from ¥100,000 to ¥200,000 per month. So far, 18 players have received the payouts.

According to the agency's operation department, the allowance was raised because of the strong performance by the women's team and it plans to raise the amount to ¥200,000 for other team sports as well.

The sports ministry has also said it will send additional staff to support the national women's soccer team in its preparation for the final Asian qualifiers, which begin Sept. 1 in China, for next year's London Olympics.

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