Takeshi Okada Resigns as Japan FA Vice President a Week After Asian Confederation Backs Infantino

A week after the Asian Football Confederation threw its weight behind Gianni Infantino at an extraordinary congress in Tokyo, one of Japanese football's best-known figures has walked out of the national federation over it.

Takeshi Okada resigned Wednesday, Oct. 28, as a vice president of the Japan Football Association, the JFA said. He is one of three vice presidents. He coached Japan at the 1998 and 2010 World Cups and took the team to the last 16 in South Africa.

What Okada said

Okada posted a statement on the JFA website. He said the decision was "entirely of my own volition" and came after "careful and repeated deliberation."

"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, 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."

He did not name Infantino in the portions of the statement made public. He did, however, address the AFC directly.

"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," Okada said.

So he is not calling the JFA's position unreasonable. He is saying he personally cannot be part of it.

The AFC reversal

The AFC's endorsement was a sharp turn. Months earlier, the confederation accused FIFA of a "fundamental breach of trust" over the FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal, a plan to sell a stake in FIFA's premium competitions, including the World Cup, to private investors.

The AFC joined UEFA and CONCACAF in a joint letter declaring that football "belongs to no individual." The plan was later abandoned, and Infantino apologised for it.

Then, at the Tokyo congress, AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa delivered what AFP described as unequivocal backing for Infantino. Goal reported that Salman told delegates the continent's "unity is our greatest strength" and that Asia was ready to move forward with the FIFA president.

That is the AFC's stated rationale: a united continental bloc, not a fractured one, going into the vote.

The JFA's position

Goal reported that JFA president Tsuneyasu Miyamoto has stressed regional solidarity in responding to the episode. Okada's own statement concedes the same practical logic. Japan's federation has to work inside the AFC, and the AFC has chosen its side.

The JFA has not announced who, if anyone, will fill the vacancy.

What it means for the March vote

Infantino, who has led FIFA since 2016, is seeking a fourth and final term in an election scheduled for March. He has faced calls to quit and has lost the support of some national associations, according to AFP.

Asia is one of FIFA's largest voting blocs. Reuters noted that its support could prove crucial to his bid.

Okada's departure does not change a single vote. The AFC's endorsement stands, and Okada's own statement acknowledges the practical case for it. But it shows that the reversal has cost the Japanese federation a senior, widely recognized figure.

It is not yet clear whether other officials in Asian federations, or members of the other confederations that signed the joint letter, will make similar moves before March. No one else has announced a resignation tied to the Infantino endorsement.