Kozo Tashima to challenge Gianni Infantino in FIFA presidential election in March

Kozo Tashima, the 68-year-old former Japan Football Association president, announced in Tokyo on November 6, 2026 that he will stand against Gianni Infantino in FIFA’s presidential election scheduled for March. He said his bid aims to bring integrity to world football and has the backing of the JFA.

Tashima began playing football after watching the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and has spent his career on development of the game in Japan as a player, coach and administrator. He studied at the German Sport University Cologne, which he says changed how he viewed sport’s role in society, and later served on the Asian Football Confederation executive committee and the FIFA Council.

Explaining his reasons for running, Tashima said: “in this age of business and money, sport must firmly uphold its integrity.” After announcing his candidacy he told reporters: “The worst thing would be if he (Infantino) were to continue without an election,” and added, “I feel this is a test of whether FIFA has the ability to cleanse itself.”

Born in southern Kumamoto, Tashima captained his high-school side to the national championship and, with no professional league in Japan at the time, enrolled at university intending to become a PE teacher; while there he was called up to play for Japan’s full national team. After graduating he joined an amateur club, retired from playing relatively soon and went to Germany to train as a coach.

Recalling his time in Germany, Tashima described his “profound shock” at players’ skills and the status of football there, saying: “Even back in 1980, the training in Germany was hugely scientific and systematic. Everything seemed like a different world from Japan, and it was a big culture shock for me.” He returned to Japan determined to apply those methods and coached a university team before moving into roles at the JFA.

Within the JFA he worked on development programmes and coached national teams at various youth levels, rose through the organisation’s ranks and was elected JFA president in 2016. During his tenure he also sat on the AFC executive committee and the FIFA Council.

Tashima’s time as JFA president included the decision to dismiss Vahid Halilhodzic two months before the 2018 World Cup; Halilhodzic was replaced by Akira Nishino and Japan reached the last 16, where they were eliminated by Belgium. On that episode Tashima said: “Some people told me that I wasn’t the one who hired Halilhodzic so it wouldn’t be my fault if the team lost. But as president, all the responsibility lay with me.”

He stepped down as JFA chief in 2024 and was named honorary president; he said he decided to run for FIFA president to “contribute to the further development of world football.” Tashima also expressed concern about FIFA’s decision to lift a ban on United States player Folarin Balogun at this year’s World Cup after an intervention by US President Donald Trump, and said he had a problem with travel restrictions placed on Iran’s World Cup team by American authorities. He described his presidential bid as “not about winning or losing” and added: “What matters is sharing with the world the integrity that Japan’s football has built over the years.”

Tashima’s announcement sets up a March election in which he will contest the incumbent Gianni Infantino for the FIFA presidency, with the JFA formally backing his candidacy.