Takeshi Okada, vice president of the Japan Football Association, announced last month on the 28th that he was resigning suddenly, partway through a term that runs to March 2028. The JFA is in turmoil.
Okada, 70, was said to have been angered by the soft response of JFA president Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, 49, to FIFA president Gianni Infantino. That explanation is widely given, but the reality is not so simple, Daily Shincho reported.
Okada had been furious at Miyamoto's conduct well before that. He had been seen as the president's guardian, the man holding up the Miyamoto administration. He has now turned his back on the president.
A foreign coach, decided alone
In the first part of its account, Daily Shincho reported that Okada had lost trust in Miyamoto over a plan to hire a foreign coach for the senior national team, a plan the president pushed through on his own authority.
The second part traces how that distrust grew. This summer Okada spoke about Miyamoto in terms that made his true feelings plain.
“I am not Tsune's guardian.”Takeshi Okada, JFA vice president
The succession bet
The JFA kept Hajime Morohashi in charge of the senior team, a decision that now looks to have misfired completely after the postponement of the Asian Cup. The source does not say when the postponement was announced or by whom.
With Okada gone, Miyamoto's leadership is the question the association faces. The source does not say what steps, if any, the JFA plans to take on the coaching position or on filling the vacant vice presidency.