Kozo Tashima Becomes First Challenger to Infantino for FIFA Presidency

Kozo Tashima, a 68-year-old former international, has become the first person to stand against Gianni Infantino in the race to lead FIFA, football's world governing body. BBC Sport reported the news on 6 November 2026.

Tashima is the honorary president of the Japan Football Association and sits on the FIFA Council, the body that oversees much of the organisation's day-to-day decision-making. He told BBC Sport he would fight Infantino with his "samurai spirit". He said he had received "good replies" from member associations he had contacted about backing his campaign.

Tashima pointed to two episodes from this year's World Cup as reasons for his challenge. The first was a plan to sell stakes in the tournament to private investors. That plan was abandoned, and Infantino later apologised to the FIFA Council for it. The second involved United States forward Folarin Balogun, whose suspension after a red card was cancelled. The BBC reports that US President Donald Trump called Infantino to ask for the ban to be reviewed.

Infantino has led FIFA for a decade. He was first elected at an Extraordinary FIFA Congress on 26 February 2016. He told the 76th FIFA Congress in April that he would stand again, and FIFA has said he will seek re-election in March 2027. The vote is set for Morocco.

Infantino's bid has also drawn a legal challenge. A former head of FIFA governance, the department that writes and enforces the organisation's rules, told Reuters that he cannot stand for a fourth term under FIFA's statutes. Those statutes are the rulebook that sets out how the organisation is run.

Tashima is not the only name in the race. Ramon Vega, a former Tottenham Hotspur defender, has also announced he will stand. Vega has tried three times before and failed to win the backing of five member associations, the minimum needed to enter. He told BBC Sport he now has "more than five" endorsements, but he did not name the associations that have given their support.

That number matters. Each candidate needs five member associations, the national bodies that run football in each country, to nominate them. Candidates must also show they have played an "active role" in football for two of the last five years. The deadline to name a candidate is mid-November, which leaves little time for the field to settle.

For a casual fan, the headline is simple. The man who has run the sport's biggest body for ten years now has a rival, and the rival has a rulebook argument and a World Cup grievance to make. Whether either will be enough to unseat him is a question for the spring. For now, the candidates still have a few weeks to collect their names.