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The story
The Japan Football Association (JFA) sent a document to the FIFA secretariat back in May supporting Gianni Infantino’s re-election bid for FIFA president, but it now looks like the board meeting on the 5th will debate whether to reverse that stance. Infantino has faced a string of trust-eroding incidents, including the uproar over U.S. President Trump’s intervention during this summer’s World Cup and the scrapped plan to set up a subsidiary to run tournament operations. In October, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) came out in support of him, and when JFA chairman Tsuneyasu Miyamoto signaled he’d fall in line with the AFC, Takeshi Okada resigned as vice chairman in protest. On the thread, there was plenty of criticism over Miyamoto’s wavering stance, along with speculation that securing a FIFA board seat for the Asian region was the real motive.
Sports Nippon [November 5, 2026, 3:00 AM]
The Japan Football Association (JFA) may be about to withdraw its support for FIFA president Gianni Infantino (56), who is seeking re-election in the FIFA presidential vote on March 18 next year. According to sources, the JFA sent a document to the FIFA secretariat back in May backing his re-election, but the board meeting on the 5th is expected to discuss reversing that stance.
Criticism poured in after President Infantino’s close ally, U.S. President Trump, intervened this summer to suspend the red-card punishment of U.S. forward Balogun during the World Cup. Infantino later announced a plan to set up a subsidiary to handle operations for tournaments including the World Cup, but withdrew it after facing fierce backlash. Amid this string of controversies shaking trust in the sport, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) declared its support for Infantino at its general assembly in October. Takeshi Okada (70), who objected to JFA chairman Tsuneyasu Miyamoto (49) signaling he’d align with the AFC, went on to resign as vice chairman.
Source: sponichi.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Then we can talk.
Changing your mind isn't a bad thing
Infantino's got the Middle East, Africa, and South America votes locked down, so he's likely to win re-election.
Being a board member of a rotten organization doesn't amount to much anyway
If he's re-elected, UEFA will probably boycott every FIFA-run tournament again, so it's a dead end either way
Tashima served as a FIFA board member for 8 years, but
2020 FIFA Futsal World Cup: Japan's hosting bid failed
2023 FIFA Women's World Cup: Japan withdrew its bid in June 2020
2021 FIFA Club World Cup: Japan gave up on hosting
I won't say he accomplished nothing at all, but it's pretty questionable whether he actually achieved anything
And with the Middle East's influence only getting stronger, the role will probably end up as an honorary title in name only
So right now Miyamoto's the chairman and Okada's the vice chairman of the JFA
He'd already been looking for a chance to step down
Now that Moriyasu's departure is settled, there's no reason left for him to stay
More importantly, his own club is at a critical juncture
Is it because the Republicans lost? lol
Yep, exactly
Japan will suck up to the next Democratic power broker after Trump too
Or does it mean Miyamoto got written off too?
His reputation went up — he's the real winner
He was only lending his name to the association anyway
Well, they do say a lighter figurehead is better
Hmm…
What about Miyamoto gave you such a weird image of him?
Posting the URL might get this deleted, so search the title above yourself
He once got angry that the national team's logo looked like South Korea's flag and had it changed
He may have had a hand in this too — Kawabuchi outranks Tashima
If it were Kawabuchi, he wouldn't have supported him in the first place
People in positions of responsibility have it rough — they're not like you guys
I'm sure Miyamoto's thrilled to get sympathy from someone with no position at all
Japan is just accepting that risk
Though the ones who'll actually pay the price are the players
This could be the moment to leave the AFC
Japan should just switch over to CONCACAF, which works closely with UEFA
Background and Key Issues
The FIFA presidential election is decided by a vote of the 209 member associations, and locking down votes confederation by confederation determines the outcome. While Infantino has built up support across the Middle East, Africa, and South America, a string of episodes — including Trump’s intervention at this summer’s World Cup and the scrapped plan for a tournament-operations subsidiary — kept raising doubts about his handling of the organization. When the AFC announced its support at its October general assembly, the JFA was effectively forced to choose between falling in line with its confederation or going its own way, and Takeshi Okada’s resignation as vice chairman can be seen as the moment that conflict surfaced. On the thread, comments welcoming the policy reversal mingled with criticism framing the about-face from May’s statement of support as mere “flip-flopping,” with more attention paid to the opacity of the JFA’s decision-making process than to who was actually right. What conclusion will emerge from the board meeting on the 5th remains undetermined as of this writing, and the information in the article is based on sources speaking to the press.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “Japan Football Association may withdraw FIFA presidential support… policy shift to be discussed at board meeting on the 5th“.
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