Japan's Kohzo Tashima announces bid to challenge Gianni Infantino for Fifa presidency

Japan's Kohzo Tashima, a Fifa Council member and former national team player, will challenge incumbent Gianni Infantino in the March 2024 presidential election.

Kohzo Tashima, the 68-year-old honorary president of Japan's football federation and a Fifa Council member since 2015, has announced his candidacy for the Fifa presidency in next March's election. The JFA unanimously backed his bid following a board meeting on Thursday.

Tashima becomes the first serious challenger to emerge against incumbent Gianni Infantino, whose proposal in July to sell stakes in future World Cup profits to private investors sparked widespread opposition in the football world. Tashima said his campaign would emphasise the values of honesty, soundness and integrity that Japanese football has protected, arguing these are what Fifa needs now.

Candidates require endorsement from five of Fifa's 211 member federations to stand. The election will take place on March 18 in Rabat, Morocco. Japan's opposition to Infantino has been building: last week the JFA's vice president Takeshi Okada resigned, citing controversies around this year's World Cup as a significant divergence from his beliefs about sporting integrity. Uefa has also been seeking a candidate to challenge Infantino ahead of a November 18 deadline.