Japan Football Association Vice President Takeshi Okada Resigns Over FIFA World Cup Controversies

Takeshi Okada, vice president of the Japan Football Association (JFA) and former coach of Japan’s national team, has resigned, citing disagreements over the handling of controversies surrounding the FIFA World Cup.

Okada announced his decision on Wednesday, saying the responses to the issues surrounding the tournament conflicted with his personal values and principles regarding integrity in sports.

The former coach, who led Japan at the 1998 and 2010 World Cups, said he was stepping down voluntarily after careful consideration.

“Throughout my career I have treasured the social value of sport based on my conviction that sport must be conducted with integrity,” Okada said, adding that he could not accept the responses to the recent World Cup-related controversies because they differed significantly from his beliefs.

His resignation came a week after Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa publicly backed Gianni Infantino’s bid for re-election as FIFA president during a meeting in Tokyo.

The endorsement followed criticism of Infantino’s proposal to open FIFA’s premium competitions, including the World Cup, to private investors. The AFC had joined football governing bodies in Europe and North America in expressing opposition to the plan.

Infantino, who has led FIFA since 2016, has faced calls to resign and lost the support of some football associations amid the controversy. He apologised over the failed private investment project and is seeking another term in an election scheduled for March.

Two months earlier, the AFC and Sheikh Salman had signalled possible opposition to Infantino. A joint letter from the AFC, European football governing body UEFA and CONCACAF, which represents football associations in North and Central America and the Caribbean, stated that football “belongs to no individual”.

Okada acknowledged the practical considerations involved in aligning Japan’s position with that of the AFC, particularly given the relationship between the two organisations and the potential impact on Japanese football.

However, he maintained that his decision followed repeated and careful deliberation, underscoring the conflict between the governing bodies’ responses and his own convictions about integrity in sport