A senior official of the Japan Football Association (JFA), Masanaga Kageyama, has been handed an 18-month suspended jail sentence by a French court for viewing child pornography during a flight.
According to French media outlet Le Parisien, Kageyama, who serves as the JFA’s technical director, was arrested last week during a stopover at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris while en route to Chile, reportedly for the Under-20 World Cup.
Prosecutors in Bobigny, near Paris, said the offence was discovered by flight attendants who noticed Kageyama watching child pornography on his laptop during the Air France flight and immediately alerted authorities.
The 58-year-old was convicted on Monday and fined €5,000 for importing, possessing, and recording pornographic images of minors under 15. His sentence also includes a 10-year ban from working with minors and a prohibition on entering France for the same period. He will be listed in France’s national sex offenders’ register.
Le Parisien reported that Kageyama claimed to be an artist and told the court the images had been generated using artificial intelligence. He admitted to viewing the content but said he did not know it was illegal in France and expressed shame for his actions.
Kageyama, a former J-League player and coach, has been instrumental in shaping Japan’s football development programmes, overseeing coaching education and youth talent development. He was detained over the weekend before being released following Monday’s hearing.
