Gianni Infantino was re-elected FIFA president unopposed at the
congress of world football’s governing body in Paris on
Wednesday.
His re-election was marked by a round of applause from the
congress after the statutes were changed earlier in the day to no
longer require a vote if there was only one candidate for the
position.
The 49-year-old Swiss-Italian lawyer now has a four year mandate
to try and accomplish his grandiose plans for football, which were
partly frustrated in his first term.
Infantino, however, claimed to have turned the organisation from
being “toxic and almost criminal” back to its core value.
He has been in charge of FIFA since February 2016, after
succeeding Sepp Blatter in the wake of a damaging corruption
scandal that Infantino claimed the body had now shaken off.
“Nobody talks about crisis at FIFA any more. or rebuilding it
from scratch. Nobody talks about scandals or corruption; we talk
about football.
” We can say that we’ve turned the situation around,” he told
the congress in a lengthy speech at Paris Expo.
“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.
“Today everything is open and transparent. It is not possible at
FIFA to make hidden payments or do anything unethical with our
money.
“There is no more place for corruption,” he claimed.
Infantino said FIFA’s previously precarious financial situation
was now looking rosy, with the organisation’s budget increased from
$5 billion to $6.4bn and reserves up from $1bn to $2.75bn.
This was despite increased spending on development projects in
FIFA’s 211 member associations.
FIFA spent $1.1bn in the period 2015-18, and will increase the
sum to $1.75bn from 2019-2022, he added.
Infantino claimed 11 areas of progress during his tenure, from
financial health, women’s development, the fight against racism and
a scandal-free 2026 World Cup bidding process.
However, he said the implementation of the Video Assistant
Referee (VAR) system had been his major triumph.
“It’s the biggest success story. It has become an integral part
of football inside one year.
“It doesn’t change the game, but it helps and cleans the game;
it brings justice to the game.
“It’s not perfect but it’s very close to perfection,” he
said.
Infantino also used the opportunity to promote the new-look
24-team Club World Cup, which starts in two years’ time.
Though the idea is under threat of a boycott from Europe’s top
clubs due to concerns over fixture congestion.
“We know that clubs are the heartbeat of the game, they train
the players.
“We need to offer clubs a chance to shine on a world stage, and
to challenge for a World Cup,” he added.
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