GENEVA (AP) — FIFA President Gianni Infantino now has a serious challenger in his fight for re-election, amid the biggest crisis of his 11 years at the helm of world football.
FIFA council member Kohzo Tashima – a colleague of Infantino’s for nearly 11 years – intends to run for president against the incumbent, Japanese media reported Thursday after a meeting of the national football federation.
Tashima is the first serious rival to emerge against Infantino before the November 18 deadline since the FIFA leader provoked a fury in world football in July with a plan to sell shares of future World Cup profits to private investors.
“The worst thing that can happen is that he (Infantino) is re-elected to this position without an election,” Tashima said on Thursday, quoted by the Nikkei business newspaper.
Infantino’s multibillion-dollar investor plan was scrapped days after backlash from soccer leaders in Europe, Asia and North America, as well as FIFA staffers.
He and FIFA have also faced scrutiny over the integrity of disciplinary decisions affecting World Cup matches, in cases involving Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, American striker Folarin Balogun and Congolese goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi.
Japan’s Asahi newspaper reported that Tashima had announced his intention to run in next March’s election and that members of the Japan Football Federation board unanimously agreed to support him. Sports newspaper Nikkan Sports also reported the news.
“It’s not about winning or losing, but we have to show the rest of the world the sincere, solid and noble approach of Japanese football,” Tashima said, according to sports newspaper Sponichi Annex.
The JFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Japan takes a principled stand
Japanese football and Tashima have retained a place at the high table of Asian politics and FIFA over the past 15 years, as the Asian Football Confederation has become more under the influence of Gulf states like Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Yet a divide widened last month when the AFC, after criticizing Infantino in August, shifted its stance to support him.
Last week, the JFA announced its vice president Takeshi Okada resigned due to the politics around Infantino strengthening his support. Okada coached Japan at the World Cups in 1998 and 2010.
After the AFC meeting in Tokyo two weeks ago, Sponichi Annex reported on Thursday, Tashima told the Asian body’s president, Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, that he could not support Infantino.
Tashima’s reputation in world football
Tashima, 68, is a former Japanese midfielder and FA president who has served on the FIFA governing body since 2015, when Sepp Blatter was president.
Tashima is seen as a respected, diplomatic and discreet official in the often murky world of soccer politics.
The candidates need the formal support of five of FIFA’s 211 member federations who will vote on March 18 in Rabat, Morocco. They must also pass an eligibility check carried out by a three-member panel appointed by FIFA, whose decision can then be challenged before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Infantino is expected to face increased scrutiny if he seeks a fourth term until 2031, or 15 years in office, at which point FIFA’s statutes limit presidents to three full terms and 12 years. FIFA’s legal advice in 2022 was that Infantino’s original term – from 2016 to 2019 complementing Blatter’s unfinished term – should not count towards the 12-year limit.
UEFA’s possible strategy to oust former employee Infantino
UEFA, the European soccer body, has led efforts to find a candidate to challenge Infantino before the Nov. 18 deadline to enter the contest.
It was unclear Thursday whether Tashima was formally backed by UEFA, which has been contacted for comment.
In the 2015 FIFA presidential election won by Blatter, UEFA had a strategy of backing three candidates in the early stages of the campaign before two of them withdrew – Portuguese great Luis Figo and Dutch official Michael van Praag – leaving Prince Ali bin Al Hussain to advance alone on the ballot paper.
Figo is now a senior adviser to UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, who in September likened Infantino to the fairy tale of the emperor without clothes, adding: “Football doesn’t need emperors.”
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Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed.
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