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Takeshi Okada, vice president of the Japan Football Association (JFA), resigned on Wednesday, stating that the organization’s "series of responses" to recent World Cup controversies conflicted with his personal values.
Okada, who led Japan as head coach at the 1998 and 2010 World Cups, stepped down a week after Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa declared the region's full support for Gianni Infantino’s FIFA re-election bid during a meeting in Tokyo.
The AFC's endorsement marked a shift coming just weeks after joining European and North American governing bodies in criticizing Infantino over plans to open major FIFA competitions to private investors. Infantino continues to face pressure over governance decisions as continental associations debate his leadership tenure.
Okada, who is one of three JFA vice presidents, said he was stepping down “entirely of my own volition.”
“Throughout my career I have treasured the social value of sport based on my conviction that sport must be conducted with integrity,” he said. “However, about 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.”
Infantino, who apologized for the failed private investment project, has headed FIFA since 2016 and is running for re-election in March. Two months ago, the AFC and Sheikh Salman signaled they could turn on Infantino.
A joint letter with European body UEFA and CONCACAF, representing federations in North and Central America and the Caribbean, declared football “belongs to no individual.”
Okada said his decision had been “reached after careful and repeated deliberation.”
“Taking into account our relationship with the AFC and the impact on Japanese football, I do understand that there are practical reasons for aligning our stance with that of the AFC,” he said.
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