After watching the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Kozo Tashima started playing football for the first time in his career, and since then he has dedicated his life to developing the game in Japan.
The 68-year-old man is preparing to become the first person from Japan to run for the presidency of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), after he announced his intention to run in the elections scheduled for March against the Swiss-Italian-Lebanese Gianni Infantino.
Tashima held several roles, including: A football player, coach and administrator, he has a reputation as a reliable man.
He rarely makes headlines, and one of the few occasions he appeared outside the sports pages was when he became one of the first public figures in Japan to contract the coronavirus in March 2020.
He spent a period of study at the German Sports University in Cologne, and he considered that this experience changed his view of the role of sports in society.
He says that his decision to run for the presidency of FIFA is based on the conviction that “in the age of business and money, sports must firmly adhere to its integrity.”
He added to reporters after announcing his candidacy: “The worst that could happen is for (Infantino) to continue without elections.” “I feel like this is a test of whether FIFA has the ability to cleanse itself.”
Born in southern Kumamoto Prefecture, Tashima led his team to Japan's prestigious national high school championship title.
In the absence of a professional football league in the country at the time, he aspired to become a physical education teacher, so he enrolled in university, and there he was called up to play with the Japanese national team.
After graduation, he joined a Japanese amateur league club, but quickly retired from playing and headed to Germany to study coaching.
He described the “deep shock” he felt at the superior skills of the players there and the way football was viewed.
“Even in 1980, training in Germany was largely based on science and methodology,” he said.
He continued: “Everything seemed like a different world from Japan, and that was a big culture shock for me.”
Tashima returned to his country determined to use what he learned in Germany to help develop Japanese football.
He trained a university team before joining the Japanese Football Association, where he worked on development programs and supervised national teams in various age groups.
He later rose to the positions of the Japanese Federation before being elected as its president in 2016, in parallel with his membership in the Executive Committee of the Asian Football Confederation and the FIFA Council.
During his term as president of the Japanese Federation, he fired the national team coach, Bosnian Vahid Halilhodzic, two months before the start of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Halilhodzic was not popular with the players, so he was replaced by Akira Nishino, and Japan reached the quarter-finals before being eliminated by Belgium.
“Some people told me that I wasn't the one who signed Halilhodzic, so it won't be my fault if the team loses,” Tashima said. But as president, the entire responsibility fell on me.”
Tashima stepped down as president of the Japanese Football Association in 2024, before being appointed honorary president.
He said that he decided to run for the presidency of FIFA in order to “contribute to the further development of world football.”
He added that he was upset by FIFA's sudden decision to lift the suspension of American striker Folarin Balogun during this year's World Cup, following the intervention of US President Donald Trump.
He also said that he had an objection to the travel restrictions imposed by the American authorities on the Iranian national team participating in the World Cup.
Tashima, who enjoys the support of the local union, stressed that his candidacy for the presidency “is not a matter of winning or losing.”
He added: “What matters is that we share with the world the integrity that Japanese football has built over the years.”
The Golden State Warriors continued their strong performances in the NBA, after defeating the Miami Heat on Thursday 120-100, achieving their sixth victory in a row, led by their star Stephen Curry.
Corey, who won four league titles with the Warriors in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022, continued to provide his distinguished performances despite reaching the age of 38, stressing that he is still capable of making a difference in his team.
“The Chef” scored 29 points during 28 minutes of play, with a success rate of 50 percent from beyond the arc (6 out of 12), including 22 points in the second half alone.
Curry received distinguished support from newcomer Jaxel Lundborg, who scored 17 points with 8 rebounds and six assists. He also played an important role in the final minutes with two decisive steals of the ball, as his team settled the confrontation against Miami, whose ranks featured Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo (20 points and 14 rebounds), Bam Adebayo (18 points and 10 rebounds), and Davion Mitchell (22 points and 8 assists).
Golden State had started the match in a faltering manner, trailing by 10 points since the first minutes, but it succeeded in making a comeback during the second quarter, which ended in a 36-36 tie, before the two teams entered the break with the score indicating a 53-53 tie.
The Warriors increased their performance after the break, led by Curry, and imposed their advantage through a series of 17 points compared to 3 for Miami, to end the third quarter with a large lead (38-23).
Corey continued to showcase his skills in the last quarter by scoring two more shots from beyond the arc, widening the gap and igniting the enthusiasm of the crowd, before sitting on the bench in the final minutes.
After three consecutive defeats at the beginning of the season, Golden State achieved six consecutive victories, making its record completely opposite to the Heat's record, which achieved three victories versus six defeats.
In the other match, the Phoenix Suns defeated the Orlando Magic 117-104, thanks to the brilliance of Devin Booker, who scored 30 points with 8 assists.
Despite Wendell Carter Jr. achieving a double-double by scoring 27 points and 13 rebounds, Orlando suffered its sixth loss this season, while Phoenix achieved its second victory after seven games.
