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The Japan Football Association (JFA) is experiencing a lot of internal troubles as Chairman Saburo Kawabuchi, 71, tries to handpick his successor so he can maintain control.
On May 15, a meeting was held by board members of the association to decide how to vote for a successor to Kawabuchi who will retire in July. Kawabuchi believed the decision would be made quickly under his supervision. However, a board member rebelled and challenged Kawabuchi.
“We should choose the new chairman from a list of voluntary candidates, rather than having someone handpicked," said Sonyko Nomura, 66.
According to board members, when he heard this, Kawabuchi blew his top and shouted. "It's too late to change the system. You owe me an apology for being rude." Another board member says he has never seen Kawabuchi so excited before.
Currently, the chairman is elected every two years at the time of changes in the board. One insider says, “Mr Kawabuchi suggested creating an 'honorable chairman' position so he can have influence over the decision-making process in the JFA. I think that's why he got so angry.”
Nomura says that if Kawabuchi gets his way, soccer in Japan won't go forward. “It's obvious that he is trying to choose a successor who is a 'yes man' so that he can keep his influence over the JFA. Some board members were supposed to show their support for my suggestion in the meeting, but they must have been frightened by his anger. Nobody cares about the development of Japan's soccer future.” (Translated by Taro Fujimoto)
© Japan Today
10 Comments
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magpie
Kawabuchi may have been a decent J-player in his time, he brought about some success with the establishment of the J-League, getting Japan to three world cips and co-hosting the World Cup in 2002. What he hasn't done is progress japanese soccer on the back of the world cup. Not an easy thing to do and Not something that can be done in a span of 10 years I say.
His failure was to push through what he thought was good. Classic example other than the above article re choice of successor, was the appointment of Zico as head coach. Troussier was disliked big time by Kawabuchi and they argues like hell. That said, I felt that Troussier was a succesful coach who understood the limitations of what he had. A team of hard working players who were not world class. Okay so Nakata, Inamoto played overseas in Serie A and the EPL Reserves.But what he did was to mold a team that played as a team and worked together.
Zico was very good player in his day and one that Kawabuchi admired. But he was also a coach who wanted to play with flair when we had no individual who could "flair" a team to victory and beyond. A succesful coach surely must be one who can get the most out of his resources (and hopefully first by understanding what his resources are). If the 2002 performance was a reflection of what these resources could achieve, then by all means 2006 was an utter failure.
DeepAir65
They have a future? I'm not a soccer fan but even I can tell at teh grass roots level until they get players playing as a team rather than individuals then what is the point?
I recently saw a Japanese team playing on the TV in a bar somewhere and I thought - wow! They are playing really well together as a team - what has happened? When I got closer I realised that it was the womens team... They probably have not got old farts in charge worried about the old boys club!
capone
you mean the poor quality has nothing to do with it ?
TPOJ
Am I the only person who thinks this is staggeringly childish?
“Mr Kawabuchi suggested creating an ‘honorable chairman’ position so he can have influence over the decision-making process in the JFA. I think that’s why he got so angry.”
So the guy demanded an apology because someone challenged his transparent attempts to remain in charge after he retired.
What kind of overly entitled mindset do you have to have to think you deserve that? Don't have him retire, just send him to his room without dessert.
hoserfella
TPOJ, this is the Japanese (male's) mindset in a nutshell. I've seen many hissy-fits thrown by all kinds when they don't get what they want. A nation of 12 year-olds, just like Macarthur said
pathat
Internal politics imperil Japan's soccer future
Maybe so, but a more accurate headline would read:
Lack of talented players imperil Japan`s soccer future
longtalllm
TPOJ, that precise mindset prevails throughout Japan's history, especially when it comes to Emperors and Shoguns. If Kawabuchi-san sees himself as the emperor of J-League soccer, any other mindset would be staggeringly un-Japanese.
GW
This guy is SOOOOOOO Japanese, this guy is trying to pull off what Putin did. Get rid of this guy, put him out to pasture, there are 10s of thousands of guys like this all over Jpn & is a reason why little progresses or evolves, all very primitive, all very Japanese. This guy is an example of a sempai go mad.
This is a microcosim of Jpn & one of the things wrong with this place
romulus3
hahahaha. I wish i was there to see that. I wonder if he capped it off by saying "nya nya nya nya nya" before he left the room
Surge1979
The problem isn't Kawabuchi alone, the problem is with the old boys system itself which rewards loyalty rather than success. And it's not just Japan either - look at what happened to Kenya, Peru, and Poland, where attempts to get rid of the corrupt association leadership brought threats of sacking the national teams from the confederation competitions and the World Cup qualifiers. Apparently FIFA believes they can look on high from their ivory tower in Switzerland supporting their cronies in the national associations.