外国人選手、早期入国許可を　プロ野球・Ｊリーグ代表、岸田首相に要請

　プロ野球の斉藤惇コミッショナーとＪリーグの村井満チェアマンは１６日、岸田文雄首相を首相官邸に訪ね、新型コロナウイルスの水際対策として実施している外国人の新規入国原則停止措置の期限が今月末で切れるのに合わせ、外国人選手の入国を早期に認めるよう要請した。首相は「前向きに善処する」と応じたという。
　斉藤氏は面会後、プロ野球、Ｊリーグともシーズン入りが迫っていると記者団に説明。「選手は相当前から筋肉を動かさないと試合に参加できない。ぎりぎりのタイミングだ」と語った。（2022/02/16-19:40）

Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball Organization, or NPB, and the Japan Professional Football League, or J.League, have urged Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to allow foreign athletes to enter the country as soon as possible.
   NPB Commissioner Atsushi Saito and J.League Chairman Mitsuru Murai made the request during a meeting with Kishida at the prime minister's office on Wednesday.
   Kishida said he would "deal with it positively," according to sources familiar with the meeting.
   Japan's border control measures against the novel coronavirus, which currently bans new entries by foreign nationals in principle, is scheduled to expire at the end of this month.
   After the meeting, Saito told reporters that the start of the professional baseball and soccer seasons is near.