Less drama, more listening, but is Kozo Tashima the candidate to topple Infantino?

Japan FA honorary president is hoping a calmer approach that makes fewer unwelcome headlines for Fifa will be welcomed by football

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.