Japan will double the number of volunteer sports instructors it sends overseas as part of its program for international contributions before the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, a government source said.
The government will increase volunteers in charge of training athletes and coaches in developing countries under the Sports for Tomorrow program introduced by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the International Olympic Committee's general session in Buenos Aires, the sources said Saturday.
According to the secretariat of Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers at the state-backed Japan International Cooperation Agency, Japan has so far dispatched 2,960 volunteer instructors to 79 countries.
As of late August, 103 volunteers were training athletes and their coaches abroad in judo and 14 other sports. Tokyo plans to expand that number to over 200.
The government will try to recruit volunteer instructors in cooperation with various sports associations and boost the number of who pass the related exam starting this fall. JICA will start accepting applications on Oct. 1.