Japan, Asia’s soccer powerhouse, has made yet another transition.
“National team captain and former J-League player Tsuneyasu Miyamoto (47, pictured) was officially inaugurated as the 15th president of the Japan Football Association,” Kyodo News and Nikkan Sports reported on March 23. Miyamoto, who served as the federation’s executive director, was selected as the candidate to succeed Gozo Tashima after receiving a majority of support from the 74 members who attended the extraordinary council meeting last December. He became the youngest president in the history of the 안전카지노사이트 Japan Football Association when the extraordinary council officially approved his succession.
Miyamoto is also the first JFF president to have played for the Japan national team and the J-League. Upon his appointment, Miyamoto laid out his vision for the organization, which includes reaching the quarterfinals of the World Cup for the first time, challenging to host and win the World Cup by 2050, and hosting the Women’s World Cup in 2031.
The JFF established a long-term project called “Japan’s Way” in 2005 and has been recognized for its “post-Asia” performance on the international stage, with players consistently qualifying for European leagues.
“I will not only look at the period of my presidency, but also at the next 10, 20, 30, and 100 years,” said Miyamoto, who took over the reins of Japanese soccer in 2016 after nine years at the helm of the association.
At 67, there is a 20-year age gap between Tashima and Miyamoto. Commenting on his title as the youngest president, Miyamoto said, “My career at the Football Association is not long, and I may be young compared to previous presidents, but there are many people in the general society who became managers in their late 40s. In that sense, I am not very young,” Miyamoto said, showing a motivated attitude.
South Korean soccer has been mired in leadership and attitude controversies following its poor performance at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup in Qatar, which ended last month, which led to the sacking of coach Jürgen Klinsmann and a series of scandals within the national team, including the “Ping Pong Gate” scandal, prompting public opinion to hold Chung Mong-kyu, the president of the Korea Football Association, accountable. Chung has kept the door open for a fourth term despite the firing of both the head coach and the head of the power enhancement committee.
At the start of the third match of Group C of the North and Central America World Cup Asian qualifier against Thailand (1-1) at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on Nov. 21, fans in the stands waved signs that read “Chung Mong-kyu OUT” and a large flag that read “Mongyu OUT.