FIFA President Gianni Infantino has been re-elected as president of football’s world governing body for a second term at FIFA’s 69th Congress held on Wednesday in Paris, France.
Infantino was re-elected until 2023 without opposition at Fifa’s annual congress in Paris.
Infantino succeeded Sepp Blatter in 2016 and has increased the number of teams at the 2026 World Cup and proposed key changes to the Club World Cup.
Ex-president Blatter was in charge for 17 years until he was banned amid a corruption scandal in 2015.
In his speech at the congress, Infantino focussed on the relative calm of his first term in charge compared to the situation he inherited.
“Nobody talks about crisis at Fifa any more or rebuilding it from scratch,” he said.
“Nobody talks about scandals or corruption, we talk about football. We can say that we’ve turned the situation around.
“This organisation has gone from being toxic, almost criminal, to being what it should be – an organisation that develops football and is now synonymous with transparency, integrity.”
Infantino was behind the expansion of the World Cup from 32 teams to 48 for the 2026 tournament, which will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Wednesday’s Congress, which had in attendance NFF President Amaju Pinnick and General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi, approved FIFA’s detailed budget for next year, which includes the sum of $810 million to be invested in the game worldwide.
Anthony Nlebem
