Japanese Football Official Sentenced To 18-Month Jail For Viewing Images Of Child Sexual Abuse

Last Updated:October 07, 2025, 18:35 IST

Masanaga Kageyama received an 18-month suspended jail term in France for viewing child sexual abuse images on a flight and was dismissed by JFA.

Masanaga Kageyama jailed for viewing child abuse images on a flight.

A senior official of the Japanese Football Association has received an 18-month suspended jail sentence in France for viewing images of child sexual abuse during a flight, a court official announced on Tuesday.

Masanaga Kageyama, the association’s technical director, was detained during a stopover at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris while en route to Chile last week, reported Le Parisien newspaper. He was reportedly heading to the Under-20 World Cup in Chile.

“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," the court prosecutor’s office in Bobigny, north of Paris, told AFP.

Punishment For Child Pornography?

On Monday, the court sentenced the 58-year-old to an 18-month suspended jail term and imposed a fine of 5,000 euros ($5,830) for importing, possessing, recording, or saving pornographic images of a minor under 15 years old. The sentence includes a prohibition on working with minors for 10 years and a ban on returning to France for the next decade. Kageyama will also be listed in the French national sex offenders’ register. The Japanese Football Association (JFA) announced his immediate dismissal.

According to Le Parisien, flight attendants detected him viewing the images on his laptop in the business class cabin of an Air France flight. He asserted that he was an artist and claimed the photos were generated by artificial intelligence. The report mentioned that during his court appearance, he admitted to viewing the images, stated he was unaware that it was illegal in France, and expressed shame.

Kageyama was held in police custody over the weekend until his court appearance on Monday, after which he was released. Kageyama is responsible for implementing measures to enhance Japan’s football teams, including the national team, as well as educating coaches and developing youth players. He previously played professionally in the J-League and coached several J-League clubs, and he had managed Japan’s under-20, under-19, and under-18 teams.

(With inputs from AFP)

Ritayan Basu

Ritayan Basu, Senior Sub-Editor, Sports at News18.com. Has been covering domestic and and international football for nearly a decade. Has played and covered badminton. Ocassionally writes cricket content, havin...Read More

Ritayan Basu, Senior Sub-Editor, Sports at News18.com. Has been covering domestic and and international football for nearly a decade. Has played and covered badminton. Ocassionally writes cricket content, havin...

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