Kozo Tashima to challenge Gianni Infantino for FIFA presidency

Kozo Tashima, honorary president of the Japan Football Association, said on Thursday, 5 November, that he will challenge Gianni Infantino in FIFA’s presidential election in March. AFP reported the announcement and said Tashima had the JFA’s full support. The 68-year-old former JFA president said his candidacy would promote values he believes Japanese football has built up, including sincerity, integrity and high ethical standards.

“Drawing on the experience I have gained over the years, I will take on this challenge with firm resolve so that I can contribute to the further development of world football,” Tashima said in the statement reported by AFP. He has served on the FIFA Council and led the JFA from 2016 to 2024. The Guardian also reported his stated aim: Tashima told the Japanese newspaper Sports Nippon that he wanted to convey what he called the “honest, sound and upright attitude” of Japanese football. The Guardian’s attribution identifies Sports Nippon as the recipient of those remarks.

The FIFA presidential ballot deadline is 18 November

Infantino is seeking a fourth term. AFP reported that the Asian Football Confederation endorsed him in October; the BBC said the endorsement followed a reversal by AFC president Sheikh Salman. The BBC also reported that FIFA abandoned its proposed plan to sell stakes in World Cup commercial rights to private investors at the end of July after backlash. That proposal had drawn scrutiny of Infantino, but the reporting does not establish how member associations will vote in the election.

Why Tashima’s candidacy matters to the FIFA race

The Guardian reported that Tashima had spoken with UEFA officials at the AFC congress in Tokyo the previous month and was understood to have acted with UEFA’s blessing; it did not describe a formal endorsement. The paper said UEFA had spent months seeking a challenger and assessed that a non-European candidate could fare better amid resentment over UEFA’s perceived influence. Those are the Guardian’s accounts and analysis, not confirmed voter intentions. Tashima’s declaration adds another candidate ahead of the deadline, while the nomination requirement will determine who reaches the ballot.