Japan's Kozo Tashima will challenge Gianni Infantino for the FIFA presidency in March
Kozo Tashima, the Japan Football Association's honorary president and a FIFA Council member since 2015, announced on Thursday 5 November 2026 that he will run against Gianni Infantino in FIFA's presidential election next March — the first serious challenge to Infantino since the row over his failed plan to sell a stake in FIFA's commercial rights to private investors. Tashima, 68, said he was announcing "with the full support of the JFA", whose board the Asahi reported had backed him unanimously. He still needs nominations from five of FIFA's 211 member associations by 18 November to reach the ballot in Rabat, and Infantino — publicly endorsed by the Asian confederation's president in October — remains the favourite.
Key points
- Kozo Tashima — JFA honorary president, FIFA Council member since 2015 — announced on Thursday he will run for FIFA president in March.
- His pitch, in his own words: Japanese football's "honest, sound and upright" attitude, announced "with the full support of the JFA".
- He needs five member associations' nominations by 18 November to reach the ballot for the 18 March election in Rabat.
- Infantino, seeking a fourth term after the failed commercial-rights sell-off, remains the favourite — the AFC endorsed him in October.
What happened
Infantino has led FIFA since 2016 and faced no serious challenger for years. That changed in July, when his plan to bring private investors into a new FIFA commercial entity holding rights linked to competitions including the World Cup — reported by the Guardian as a sale of a 20% stake in FIFA's commercial rights — provoked a furore and failed. UEFA has led the opposition since, and the Guardian reports Tashima had talks with UEFA officials at last month's AFC congress in Tokyo.
The challenge is not unanimous even at home: JFA vice-president Takeshi Okada resigned from the organisation over Asian politics in support of Infantino, saying sport should embody integrity (Inside World Football). And the AFC congress that hosted those talks ended with its president, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa, publicly endorsing Infantino — a reminder that Tashima's own confederation is, officially, on the other side.
Both sides, in their own words
Both sides heard. Neither believed for free. Publishing a side's version is not endorsing it — the claim checks below are where verdicts live.
Side A · Tashima and the JFA
- His stated appeal: Japanese football's "honest, sound and upright" attitude — "I have decided to run in order to make this appeal to the world."
- He announced with, he says, the full support of the Japan Football Association; the Asahi reported its board backed him unanimously.
- He is understood to have acted with the blessing of UEFA, which has led the opposition to Infantino since the summer's commercial-rights row (the Guardian's reporting, not a UEFA statement).
Side B · Infantino and his backers
- Infantino is seeking re-election to a fourth term and remains the favourite: 106 votes win, and he holds backing in Africa, South America and leading AFC countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia (the Guardian's assessment).
- The AFC's president, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa, publicly endorsed Infantino at the confederation's Tokyo congress in October.
- Inside the JFA itself, vice-president Takeshi Okada resigned over the politics of the challenge, backing Infantino and saying sport should embody integrity (Inside World Football).
Independently verified
The announcement: Kozo Tashima told reporters after a Japan Football Association board meeting in Tokyo on Thursday that he intends to run for the FIFA presidency in next March's election — the first Japanese candidate for world football's top job. Tashima, 68, is a former Japan forward who has sat on the FIFA Council since 2015; he was JFA president from 2016 until Tsuneyasu Miyamoto succeeded him in 2024, and is now the association's honorary president. His own words: "I am grateful that I can make this announcement with the full support of the JFA," Tashima told Sports Nippon, saying Japanese football has built an honest, sound and upright attitude and adding: "I have decided to run in order to make this appeal to the world." As quoted by Nikkan Sports: "We must convey to the world that we are honest, healthy and virtuous." The road to the ballot: a candidate needs the formal support of at least five of FIFA's 211 member associations, and nominations close on 18 November; the election is on 18 March in Rabat, Morocco, where 106 votes win. Tashima is the second challenger to declare, after former Tottenham defender Ramon Vega announced last month — though it remains unclear whether Vega has the five backers required. The JFA's own board backed Tashima unanimously, the Asahi reported.Not yet verified
The balance of forces, as reported: Tashima is understood to have acted with the blessing of UEFA, which has led the opposition to Infantino since his July plan to sell a 20% stake in FIFA's commercial rights — including rights linked to the World Cup — to private investors failed. But the AFC's president publicly endorsed Infantino in October, Infantino holds the backing of leading AFC countries and of Africa and South America, and he is expected to reach the 106 votes needed for a fourth term.Claim by claim
Why this label: Verified on three independent routes: Reuters' report (read in this run), AP's report (via TSN, read in this run) and the Guardian's report (via EuropeSays) agree on the announcement, the meeting and his roles; the biographical details match across all three. The JFA had not responded to AP's and Reuters' requests for comment when they filed — the announcement is Tashima's own, reported identically by all three.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Verified as the principal's own words under the principal's-own-words rule: the Sports Nippon quotes are carried identically by Reuters and AP (read in this run), and the Nikkan Sports wording by Inside World Football. That he said them is verified by his own statements; what his candidacy will achieve is a separate question and is not claimed here.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Verified from the Guardian's account of the election rules and calendar (via EuropeSays, read in this run), with the five-nomination requirement and the 18 November deadline in agreement across talkSPORT, Chale News and Inside World Football. The Asahi's unanimity report is attributed to the Asahi, via AP and Chale News.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Show all claims (1 more)
Why this label: Carried as Not yet verified: the UEFA blessing is the Guardian's reported understanding, not a UEFA statement, and the vote arithmetic is the Guardian's assessment of declared and expected support, not a count of cast votes. The July sell-off plan and its failure, and the AFC president's October endorsement, are the reported background both camps' positions rest on; FIFA itself has published no candidate list, because nominations do not close until 18 November.
On the ladder: the evidence so far sits low — early, single or social sources. We publish the claim as a claim, never as fact.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- That Tashima has declared, with the JFA board's backing as reported by the Asahi — announced in his own words on Thursday.
- The mechanics: five nominations by 18 November; the election on 18 March in Rabat; 106 votes to win.
- That Infantino is seeking a fourth term and was publicly endorsed by the AFC president in October.
What we don't know yet
- Whether Tashima secures the five nominations by 18 November — he has the JFA's; the other four have not been named.
- UEFA's formal position — its blessing is reported understanding (the Guardian), not a UEFA statement, and UEFA has not commented in the reporting read.
- Whether the AFC's official endorsement of Infantino holds now that one of its own council members is running against him.
Why it matters
FIFA's president controls the World Cup's money and calendar for 211 member associations, and the office has rarely faced a contested, credible challenge in the modern era. Tashima's bid tests whether the anger over Infantino's attempt to sell a stake in FIFA's commercial rights can be turned into votes — and the first answer comes within a fortnight, in whether five associations are willing to put their names to his nomination.
Background
Show the background timeline (5)
Infantino's plan to bring private investors into a FIFA commercial entity holding World Cup-linked rights fails amid a furore across the game (Reuters; the Guardian).
At the AFC congress in Tokyo, the confederation's president Sheikh Salman publicly endorses Infantino for a further term; Tashima holds talks with UEFA officials on the margins (the Guardian).
Tashima announces his candidacy after a JFA board meeting in Tokyo.
Deadline for candidates to file nominations with five member associations' support.
The FIFA presidential election in Rabat, Morocco — 106 votes to win.
Update history
No silent edits. Every change is written here, with its time.
- Latest
Published (crawler queue #1681, the Guardian/CNA; worked with Reuters, AP and the Guardian's reports, read in this run). JUDGE AUDIT: (1) headline, slug, SEO title and summary state the same outcome — Tashima will challenge Infantino in March; nothing in any of them pre-judges the election. (2) The announcement and the election mechanics are Verified on three independent reports; the candidate's quotes are verified as his own words; the UEFA blessing and the vote expectations are labelled Not yet verified and appear nowhere as settled fact. (4) Both camps' positions are stated as positions in the sides block — including the awkward facts for each: Okada's resignation against the challenge, and Infantino's failed sell-off behind it. (6) Photo is Tashima himself, labelled a file photo in its alt text; no official video of the announcement exists to embed. Translations: headline, summary and side-naming take labels in all 13 non-English languages at publish.