Infantinos

Kozo Tashima believes he has a ’20 to 30 percent’ chance of winning the FIFA presidency election against Infantino.

The latest challenger to FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s re-election bid, Kozo Tashima, believes he has a 20 to 30 percent chance of winning the coveted seat in global football.

Tashima, the honorary president of the Japan Football Association (JFA), said governance is FIFA’s biggest problem as he outlined his platform for next year’s presidential election on Sunday.

“I’ve received many messages saying, ‘Thank you for speaking out’…,” Tashima told Japanese daily Sports Nippon.

Tashima announced on Thursday that he intended to run in the March election, becoming the first Japanese candidate to seek world football’s top job.

The 68-year-old former Japan international has served on the FIFA Council since 2015 and became JFA president the following year before being succeeded by Tsuneyasu Miyamoto in 2024.

“I’ve been contacted by presidents and international department officials from eight countries, including some outside Asia,” he said.

“While I haven’t received any formal endorsements yet, I’m getting a positive response. Since time is short and I don’t want to be held up by incomplete paperwork, I want to secure support from at least six associations.”

Tashima requires nominations from five national associations, a prerequisite for standing in the election.

Candidates have until November 18 to submit nominations for the election, in which Infantino is seeking a fourth term as head of world football’s governing body.

Infantino came under scrutiny in July after an unsuccessful attempt to bring private investors into a new FIFA commercial entity holding rights linked to competitions including the World Cup.

Despite the criticism, Infantino’s candidacy received a significant boost in October when the head of Asian football publicly endorsed him, while support from several FIFA confederations has left him well placed among the organisation’s 211 member associations.

“I’ll keep what’s good and change what’s bad…,” Tashima added. “The biggest problem, however, remains governance…

“Selflessness is my motto… At this stage, I think my chances of winning are about 20 to 30 percent, but as the campaign progresses, I want to raise my confidence to 40 or 50 percent. I truly want to change FIFA.”

Former Tottenham Hotspur defender Ramon Vega was the first candidate to publicly declare his intention to challenge fellow Swiss citizen Infantino last month.

Asked how confident he was in his ability to get the five endorsements, he said: “I have confidence. I already asked to some of the member association and [received] good replies so far.”

He laughed when asked if he realistically hopes to win the election in Morocco in March, before saying: “Of course, of course yes, I hope I will win. It is not easy.”

Tashima’s campaign will centre on his philosophy for the role of Fifa president, which he described as one based on the “values of sincerity, soundness, fair play, and integrity”.

Regarding the Balogun red-card incident, which involved US President Donald Trump calling Infantino to ask for the ban to be reviewed, Tashima said: “I have never seen the red card and the next game who can play.

“This is, I hope, never happens in the world football. He didn’t explain about this issue, how to come and how [it came] to happen.

He added: “Most of the things are not answered yet by Mr President Infantino.

“With my experience in Japan Football Association, Asian Football Confederation, and Fifa, for some more than 20 years, I would like to bring good change if I am elected.”

Last month, former Tottenham Hotspur defender Ramon Vega announced his intention to stand as a candidate in next year’s Fifa presidential election.

He told BBC Sport he had received “more than five” endorsements, but declined to give details of the identities of the member associations backing him.

All candidates must prove they have played an “active role” in football for two of the last five years. Vega has said he is confident he is eligible to stand for the presidency as a shareholder of a club.

Vega has attempted to run for the presidency three times before but each time has failed to garner the necessary support of five associations.

Tashima can therefore be considered the first serious challenger to Infantino.

The head of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) says the body is endorsing Gianni Infantino for another term as FIFA president.

The AFC has 47 member confederations. Even if all the members do not follow Friday’s direction from Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, those that do could be key to guaranteeing another mandate for Infantino, who leads the governing body of world football and is seeking a fourth term.

The FIFA election is in March. The deadline for candidates to file against Infantino is November 18, and so far, none has filed.

Sheikh Salman, speaking at the AFC’s extraordinary congress in Tokyo on Friday, embraced Infantino with a large hug in front of the membership as he delivered his endorsement.

“We affirm our full commitment to supporting you and your leadership as you seek a new mandate as the FIFA president.” Sheikh Salman said.

“You’ve visited a lot of countries in Asia. I’ve spoken to a lot of members within this continent. I know your feeling, and I think your commitment is clear as well.”

Addressing his remarks to Infantino, Sheikh Salman indicated not every AFC member would go along with the endorsement but most will.

“My feeling is, I’m sure, the feeling of most of my members,” the AFC president said. “And I’ve said that to you.”

A sudden about-face by AFC

This is an abrupt turnaround for Sheikh Salman. Just over two months ago, the AFC joined the football governing bodies of Europe and that of North and Central America in saying Infantino had committed a “fundamental breach of trust”.

Infantino apologised last week in Zurich to FIFA’s 37-member ruling council, which he chairs, for “mistakes” he made in assembling a now-scrapped $4.2bn plan to sell a stake in FIFA events, including the World Cup, to private investors.

Sheikh Salman referenced the differences with Infantino in his speech but glossed over any details.

“Gianni, I want to make it clear: Yes, we had some issues we spoke about in the past,” Sheikh Salman said. “But let’s not relate the two things together. I think the last few days we met in Zurich, you made it clear that there’s a true understanding between us.”

“The past I’m sure is part of our history,” he added, “We’ve all, I’m sure, learned important lessons from it. What matters now is how we move forward together. I think everyone has questions, and I’m sure the answers will be available, whether to us in Asia or the rest of the world. ”

Infantino’s electioneering around the globe

FIFA’s media office has been promoting Infantino’s travels around the world, seeking votes in exchange for millions of more dollars in financial support for small and large football countries.

“Thank you for being here,” Sheikh Salman said to Infantino. “I know you have been everywhere. I don’t know how you can do it. But I’m sure that you set a record for being in almost every country.”

Sheikh Salman then joked that, perhaps, Infantino had a “clone”.

That drew a laugh. But the largest applause came at the end of his brief address when he again repeated his support for Infantino.

“As one Asian family, we are ready to move forward, united in your support, Gianni,” Sheikh Salman added. “I want to make that clear today.”

Infantino accepts AFC’s support

Infantino took the podium after Sheikh Salman and kept his remarks light. But he did acknowledge some errors.

“When you do many things, you do – hopefully, as we did, many good things – you do some mistakes as well,” Infantino said. “The important, however, is, as you said, to learn, to learn always from the experience, from the mistakes, to apologise, to move ahead, to come together, to unite, to build for our future, for your future.”

The largest applause came as he mentioned how, under his leadership, millions more are flowing to FIFA’s patronage network.

“Before I started as FIFA president, each of you – some of you are still [here] and still remember that time – each of you was receiving $1m every four years” Infantino said. “As of the first of January of next year, it will be $25m.”