Japanese football official sentenced for viewing child abuse images on plane

A court in France has sentenced a senior Japan Football Association official to a suspended jail term of 18 months after finding him guilty of viewing photographs of child sexual abuse during a plane journey.

Masanaga Kageyama, technical director of JFA, was detained in France last week during a stopover at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris after a crew member on the plane alerted officials after noticing him watching indecent images of children.

Kageyama was on his way to inspect the FIFA Under-20 World Cup.

The Tribunal judiciaire de Bobigny, in the north of Paris, handed the 58-year-old a suspended prison sentence and a fine of €5,000 (£4,300), along with a 10-year ban on working with minors or returning to France, the Le Parisien newspaper reported.

The JFA on Tuesday terminated his contract with immediate effect in the wake of a guilty verdict issued in relation to misconduct during an overseas business trip, it said.

Calling the incident “entirely unacceptable”, the association said it deeply regrets this situation and offers its sincere apologies for the concern and disruption this matter has caused.

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"This incident is unacceptable to the football world," JFA president Tsuneyasu Miyamoto said

“While efforts have been made in the past, we must take this opportunity to thoroughly review and reinforce the governance and compliance structures within the football community,” he said.

“With renewed determination, we are committed to making significant and lasting improvements. We will also reaffirm our dedication to the core values and mission of the JFA, and ensure that our actions are guided accordingly.”

Prosecutors said: “The facts were discovered by the plane’s flight crew, who raised the alarm after noticing that the convicted man was viewing child pornography images on the plane”.

When confronted, he had claimed he was watching photos that were "art" and AI-generated.

During court proceedings, Kageyama admitted to viewing the images in the business class cabin of an Air France flight, saying he did not realise it was illegal in France and that he was ashamed of the incident.

Kageyama was a former professional footballer who retired in 1996. He later joined the coaching staff of several Japanese football teams and went on to manage clubs in Macau and Singapore.