Japan Football VP Takeshi Okada Resigns Over World Cup Response Discrepancies

Takeshi Okada, a former coach for Japan's national football team in the 1998 and 2010 World Cups, has resigned from his position as vice president of the Japan Football Association (JFA). Okada cited a significant divergence between his personal values and the "series of responses" to controversies surrounding the World Cup. His resignation follows a week after the head of Asian football declared regional support for Gianni Infantino's bid for re-election as FIFA president. Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa, president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), announced this backing during a meeting in Tokyo. This endorsement came despite the AFC previously joining European and North American football bodies in condemning Infantino's proposal to open FIFA's major competitions, including the World Cup, to private investors. Infantino has faced calls for his resignation and has seen his support wane among some associations as he seeks a fourth and final term as FIFA president. Okada, one of three JFA vice presidents, stated his decision was made "entirely of my own volition." He emphasized his career-long commitment to the social value of sport and the principle of integrity. "However, with regard to the series of responses surrounding the recent FIFA World Cup, there is a significant gap between those responses and my own beliefs, and as a sportsman I cannot accept them," Okada stated. Infantino, who has led FIFA since 2016 and apologized for the failed private investment initiative, is up for re-election in March. Earlier this year, the AFC and Sheikh Salman had indicated a potential shift in their stance towards Infantino, evidenced by a joint letter with UEFA and CONCACAF that declared football "belongs to no individual." Okada acknowledged that while he understood the practical reasons for aligning the JFA's stance with the AFC, considering the relationship and impact on Japanese football, his decision was "reached after careful and repeated deliberation."