The Japan Football Association (JFA) elected a new president Sunday, replacing Motoaki Inukai, also its World Cup bid chief, in a boardroom revolt after two years of his reputedly forceful rule. The JFA said that Inukai, 68, had been replaced by his deputy and long-time FIFA executive committee member Junji Ogura, 71, following a vote by the association's executive board.
Ogura, who was instrumental in Japan's successful bid to co-host the 2002 World Cup with South Korea, also replaced Inukai as president of the country's committee bidding for the tournament's 2022 edition.
The upheaval comes just days after an inspection team from the football governing body praised as "very balanced" Japan's World Cup bid, which includes a plan for 3-D match telecasts for public viewing around the world. The FIFA's 24 executives will choose the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts on December 2. "We must clearly explain in our lobbying why Japan wants to host the World Cup again," Ogura, who became one of JFA vice presidents in 1998 and has been a member of the FIFA executive committee since 2002, told a news conference.
Ogura, well known in international football circles and well versed in English, received the FIFA Order of Merit for his contribution to football last month.
"We must study foreign languages properly in our effort to globalise our organisation," said Ogura, who managed a domestic club before the launch of the J-League in 1993, and joined the JFA in 1991. Inukai was elected two years ago with full backing from his predecessor Saburo Kawabuchi, who had served three terms, and as a candidate who could serve two two-year terms to uphold continuity. He had publicly expressed his wish for a second stint himself. Inukai, who shunned the board meeting, said in a statement that his resignation was voluntary.
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