Not many remember Japan’s bid for the 2022 World Cup, when the country finished the race with only two of the final 22 votes. Kozo Tashima was involved then, and now the honorary president of the Japan Football Association is going it alone in the hope of ousting Gianni Infantino.

The 68-year-old Tashima is an unlikely insurgent and an unlikely challenger to Infantino. He is, however, a familiar and respected figure in Asian and global football politics, and ready to take the Fifa presidency out of the headlines into a quieter era.

In 2010, during the JFA’s failed World Cup bid, Tashima proved himself to be an affable campaigner, impressing with his efficiency and, in the words of an official from one European association, displaying a rare ability for a football leader to listen more than talk. He may not have the ability for an easy quip, or as much charm and charisma as Infantino or his predecessor, Sepp Blatter, but that could count in his favour.

Since entering the Fifa Council in 2015, Tashima has rarely made an international headline and it is this, he hopes, that will make a difference. Tashima is ready to put principles to the fore before March’s election. “It’s not about winning or losing but about conveying to the world the honest, sound and upright attitude that Japanese football has built,” Tashima said as he announced his candidacy for the Fifa presidency on 5 November. “What Fifa needs now are these values that we have protected. I have decided to run in order to make this appeal to the world.”

Tashima became the JFA’s technical director in 2002, moving up to the role of federation president as Japan became Asia’s leading football nation. Off the pitch, however, the power has moved westwards, from Tokyo to Riyadh, Doha and Manama. There has been disquiet about how the Asian Football Confederation has, from Japan’s perspective, become too close to Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The feeling about Fifa is worse. JFA officials were dismayed at Infantino’s closeness to Donald Trump. Given how crucial a partner the United States has been to Japan in terms of security and as an export market for more than eight decades, the president’s actions in regards to tariffs and cosying up to China and North Korea went down badly in Tokyo, as did Trump’s favourability, going below 30% in May.

The summer was the last straw, with the Folarin Balogun affair during the World Cup and then the leaking of Infantino’s plan to sell off the tournament’s commercial rights to private investors. Yet in October the JFA president, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, the former defender who succeeded Tashima in 2024, followed the AFC leadership and backed Infantino. Miyamoto’s decision resulted in the resignation of the JFA vice-president, Takeshi Okada.

“I have always believed that sports should be noble and have cherished their social value,” said Okada, a former Japan defender and national team head coach. “However, the recent actions surrounding the Fifa World Cup have created a significant gap between my beliefs and the actions taken, and as a sportsman I could not accept them, which led me to this decision.”

Okada led Japan at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa but only after surviving calls from fans and the media for him to be sacked due to poor results in preparation for the tournament. Tashima’s support as JFA president was key to this and his loyalty was rewarded with seeing the Samurai Blue reach the knockout stages on foreign soil for a first time. Now it was Okada’s turn to back Tashima and he did just that as the latter announced his candidacy for the Fifa presidency, one that came as a surprise to most in Asia.

There is an expectation that Uefa’s candidate will be announced soon, but if no one is put up by Europe’s governing body then Tashima becomes the main challenger to Infantino’s supremacy, ahead of the former Tottenham defender Ramon Vega, who has also announced his candidacy. He would automatically get some support from Europe and Concacaf members but may not have the international connections to pick up enough votes elsewhere.

Tashima, who earned seven caps for Japan in the late 1970s and early 1980s, is not going to unite Asia, but there will also be backing for him from the east and south-east, where the JFA has worked hard over the years building relationships with national associations such as those of Singapore and Thailand. Tashima has put his chances of winning at between 20% and 30% but, as he said, this isn’t really about winning but about standing up for what is right.

If Tashima does win, there will be a Fifa president who looks to build consensus behind the scenes and make as few headlines as possible. There will also be no cosying up to world leaders, or certainly not any more than is absolutely necessary. Football fans may well appreciate a quieter, less visible, less controversial man at the top of the sport’s world governing body. Kozo Tashima could be that man.