A stadium, hit by a massive earthquake in March last year, is one of the candidate venues for the under-20 women’s football World Cup to be hosted by Japan during the northern summer, the country’s football chief says.

“We will need at least four venues. One of them will be located in the disaster area,” Japan Football Association president Junji Ogura said. “We want to encourage the disaster area.”

The 16-nation tournament will be held from August 19 to September 8 with the final expected to be held at Tokyo’s National Stadium.

Miyagi Stadium, outside the major northern Japan city of Sendai, is listed as one of the candidates. It staged some matches in the 2002 men’s senior World Cup co-hosted by Japan and South Korea.

The 9.0-magnitude seabed quake and ensuing monster tsunami left more than 19,000 people dead or missing in Japan’s northeast including Sendai.

The inland stadium was spared tidal waves but the tremor shattered glass, cracked walls and damaged roof pillars at the facility, an official said, adding that it will be reopened in late July after repairs.

The U-20 tournament was originally scheduled to be staged by Uzbekistan but world football’s governing body FIFA determined in December that the central Asian country was not ready with “logistical and technical” problems.

FIFA has asked Japan to host the event and the government has approved the plan.

Ogura said if the tournament proves a success it would help Japan’s bid for the women’s senior World Cup in the future.

“We want to prepare ourselves to be able to host it in 2023,” he said, according to the Mainichi newspaper.