The Japan Football Association announced on 5 November that it was nominating former president Kozo Tashima for the FIFA presidency. Tuổi Trẻ, citing Soccer King, reported that all 14 members of the JFA board agreed to back him.
Tashima led the Japanese association from 2016 to 2024 and has served on the FIFA Council since 2015. The FIFA election is scheduled for 18 March 2027 in Morocco. The JFA’s nomination does not by itself place him on a final list of candidates.
Differing positions in Asia
At an extraordinary Asian Football Confederation congress in Tokyo on 23 October, AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa said he supported Gianni Infantino for another term, according to Tuổi Trẻ. JFA president Tsuneyasu Miyamoto had said that working alongside the AFC was a basic position for Japanese football.
On 5 November, Miyamoto explained that the JFA had not formally endorsed Infantino, the newspaper reported. Former Japan coach Takeshi Okada had resigned as JFA vice-president; the association announced that decision on 28 October.
Okada spoke of the importance of integrity in sport and criticised FIFA’s handling of matters connected with the 2026 World Cup. Tuổi Trẻ also described Tashima’s earlier opposition to the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise commercial plan, which was subsequently withdrawn.
What comes next
The newspaper said Tashima must secure nominations from at least five member associations by 18 November to enter the official contest. It reported that 211 associations are entitled to vote and that each decides its own ballot.
Tuổi Trẻ cited the Guardian as reporting contacts between Tashima and UEFA officials, while noting that UEFA had not formally endorsed him. The final field and the outcome of the election remain to be determined.