Japanese head coach Masatada Ishii was officially dismissed by the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) on October 21st. The announcement prompted an immediate and strong reaction from Ishii, who publicly expressed his shock and criticized the Thai football body, accusing them of dishonesty surrounding his termination, which he asserted occurred without mutual agreement.
Following FAT’s public statement, the 58-year-old coach took to social media, specifically Instagram, to voice his profound disappointment and disapproval of the federation’s actions. In his post, Ishii directly addressed the situation, concluding his message with the pointed statement: “These Thai people are not honest.”
He further elaborated on the sequence of events that unfolded on the day of his dismissal: “At 10 AM, the Football Association of Thailand called me for a meeting to review the two matches against Chinese Taipei. Immediately after the review session, they informed me that my contract would be terminated today. The reason they provided was their desire to implement changes to the national team staff across various age levels.” Ishii then detailed his response: “I couldn’t immediately accept this decision. Consequently, I refused to sign the termination agreement and requested further discussion at a later time. However, that very afternoon, they proceeded to publicly announce my dismissal as the coach of the Thai national team. They are truly dishonest people.”
Ishii had been appointed as the head coach by the FAT, under the leadership of President Nualphan Lamsam, in November 2023. He took over the role from German coach Alexandre Polking. During his tenure, Ishii managed the Thai national team in 30 matches, achieving a commendable record of 16 wins, 6 draws, and 8 losses. This performance was generally regarded as positive by many football observers.
Despite his generally strong track record, which included successful periods with clubs such as Kashima Antlers in Japan’s top league, as well as Samut Prakan City and Buriram United in the Thai league, it is widely believed that disappointment stemming from the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers was the primary factor behind this sudden parting of ways. Thailand failed to advance beyond the third round of qualification in Group C, having secured 8 points. While this matched the points total of second-placed China, who did qualify for the fourth round, Thailand was ultimately eliminated on goal difference.
Conversely, the “War Elephants,” as the Thai national team is affectionately known, demonstrated a more robust performance in the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. They suffered only one loss in their four matches, placing them second in Group D with 9 points, tied with group leaders Turkmenistan. With two matches remaining in this qualification campaign, Turkmenistan, Thailand, and Sri Lanka (with 6 points) are still in contention for the top position to secure one of the coveted qualifying spots for Saudi Arabia, while Chinese Taipei has already been mathematically eliminated from contention.
