Japan considers leaving the Asian Football Confederation

(Dan Tri) - According to information from UTV (Iraq) television channel, the Japan Football Association (JFA) is considering the possibility of leaving the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

According to UTV, the Japan Football Association is dissatisfied with the AFC's management and unfair decisions. Therefore, they are considering leaving the Asian football authority to form their own federation, called the East Asian Football Confederation.

Several other countries, including Iraq, are said to be considering joining if the plan becomes a reality.

The Japan Football Federation is said to be ready to split from the AFC to form its own federation (Photo: Getty).

JFA is particularly unhappy with the AFC's change in the format of the AFC Champions League Elite (Asian Cup C1) by moving the competition to be held centrally in Saudi Arabia from the quarter-finals onwards from last season.

The Football Association of the Land of the Rising Sun believes that the AFC is dependent on funding from Saudi Arabia and Qatar. As a result, the Asian football governing body has made many unfair decisions, favoring representatives from West Asia.

This decision has a big impact on Japanese representatives as they have to travel quite far to compete. Last season, Yokohama Marinos and Kawasaki Frontale suffered this disadvantage.

Recently, Indonesia also suffered a big disadvantage when having to compete in the 4th qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Saudi Arabia. The AFC even arranged for a West Asian referee to officiate the match between Indonesia and host Saudi Arabia.

JFA feels dissatisfied with AFC's "biased" decision (Photo: Getty).

According to the plan, the East Asian Football Confederation is expected to include Japan, South Korea, North Korea and China. In addition, Japan also wants to invite Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand and football nations in Oceania such as Australia and New Zealand.

Historically, there have been many national football federations that have changed continents, such as Israel moving from Asia to Europe or Australia moving from Oceania to Asia. However, it is unprecedented for a country to separate and form its own federation that operates similarly to a continental federation.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/nhat-ban-can-nhac-roi-khoi-lien-doan-bong-da-chau-a-20251018095049134.htm