Japan Football Association’s Top Executives, Promoting the Advancement of Women, Decided to Significantly Reduce the Number of Female Executive Board Members

The Japan Football Association (JFA) has decided to drastically reduce the number of its 27-member board of directors from nine to 15, aiming to conform to the ” Governance Code of Sports Organizations (indicators and principles of organizational governance )” set by the Sports Agency in 2019 to maintain the dignity of each sports organization, which calls for at least 40% female directors and 25% external directors. The aim is to conform to the “Code of Governance for Sports Organizations (indicators and principles of conduct for organizational governance) for sports organizations”. JFA President Kozo Tajima, 65, whose term of office will expire next March, was proud of his decision to drastically reduce the number of board members, saying, “We have made a great reform,” but a frustrating behind-the-scenes story came to light.

The new JFA president, Kozo Tajima, 65, who has decided to make major cuts to the JFA Board of Directors, was proud of the “major reforms we have made.

Next April, a new JFA president will take office, replacing Tajima, who has served four terms since 2016. In conjunction with this change, unprecedented organizational reforms have been under discussion since May of this year. The conclusion was a bold reduction in the number of JFA board members to nearly half, which was announced at the end of July, and even long-time JFA staff members could not hide their surprise: “I never imagined that the number of JFA board members would be reduced to half of what it has been.

In the case of a company organization, this is the same as a reduction in the number of directors starting next year. Chairman Tajima said, “I will step down at the end of this term. I believe this is why we are able to do this (drastic reduction in the number of board members) now,” he said proudly.

There is of course a reason for the unusual reduction in the number of board members: in 2019, the Sports Agency established a code of governance that all sports organizations must follow. Starting with the corruption scandal at the Tokyo Olympics, many sports organizations have been involved in scandals, and trust in the sports world is still greatly shaken. The same old seniority-based personnel practices are being repeated in many organizations. In order to create an appropriate management system that is more open and allows for regular renewal, the Sports Agency has issued a notice calling for the appointment of 40% female board members and 25% outside board members. The Sports Agency has decided to conduct a compliance inspection of all organizations every four years to ensure that this governance code is being met.

As the head of a sports organization, Tajima spoke of the significance of streamlining the organization, saying, “The (board members) should not become an organization like a group of critics,” adding, “The (Sports Agency’s) governance code was certainly one of the triggers.