• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

President, Japan Football Association：INUKAI Motoaki
The FIFA Club World Cup offers Asian clubs a gateway to a world tournament and at the 2007 tournament, the 3rd to be held, J-League club Urawa Reds shone out as the 3rd best in the world.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has overseen each country’s professional league’s restructuring, as well as the creation of the Asian Champions League (ACL); two pillars that have strengthened Asian football and soon, from the 2009 season, the ACL will be reborn as a top league where Asia’s strongest sides compete. This will raise Asia’s football level and Japan will not try and dominate this league but instead hope to make our presence felt by leading the way in cooperation.
The attention women’s football receives is increasing throughout the world and each country’s team’s strengths are developing. An eye-opening fact is that some of the top ranked countries in the world are DPR Korea, Japan and China PR, all from East Asia. We hope that this progress will not stop and we want to work to vitalize women’s football throughout East Asia.
As we hope for each of these Asian football projects to develop, we must acknowledge the role of the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF). Especially since Asia is so huge, including the East Asia, West Asia, Central South Asia and ASEAN regions, each of which must improve the level of their football.
The world of football is always changing rapidly. Asia must not get caught up in these changes but instead look ahead together. The East Asian countries must value communication in order to vitalize Asian football and we hope this will also raise greater understanding and international exchange between our countries.

As of September 2008

It is no exaggeration to say that the 10th Japan Football Association President, Saburo Kawabuchi, can be considered a revolutionary within Japanese football. He stood at the helm of the J.League when it was launched in 1993, and achieved instant success in changing the environment of football in Japan by improving its level and popularity. Kawabuchi also played a vital role in bringing the first FIFA World Cup™ to Asia in 2002, which was co-hosted with Korea Rep. Since Kawabuchi became president of JFA in July, 2002, he has applied his vitality to various activities such as reinvigorating women's football and futsal, reinforcing the coordination with local and prefectural football associations, and seeing the establishment of the JFA Academy in Fukushima on April 8, 2006. An integral part of the development of Japanese football, the Academy not only focuses on forming a foundation for future footballers, but also aims to develop true elite players who can make a strong contribution on the world level. In his 2005 New Year declaration, Kawabuchi confidently asserted that in 2050 the football family will grow to 10 million, Japan will again host the FIFA World Cup™ and Japan will reign as world champion. A man with no compromises, Captain Kawabuchi and his team should be closely watched. The worldwide renowned project continued on with the appointment in July 2008 of the 11th Japan Football Association President Inukai Motoaki.

As of July 2009