Infantino takes second FIFA presidential term unopposed
Infantino insists that FIFA has cleaned up its act.
Keystone / Fernando Vergara
Gianni Infantino has been re-elected for a second term as President of world football’s governing body FIFA. Wednesday’s election proved less contentious than previous editions as no-one opposed the Swiss national.
“The organisation has changed from a toxic, almost criminal state to what it should be. FIFA takes care of football,” Infantino said after being voted in at the 69th FIFA Congress in Paris. “We no longer have room for corruption at FIFA. Zero tolerance.”
Zurich-based FIFA has for years been at the centre of numerous corruption scandals. Infantino first took office in 2016 when he predecessor Joseph Blatter was cast out in disgrace. Suspicions of malpractice have continued to haunt the organisation in the last three years, but Infantino said they are unfounded.
“The last three years and four months were certainly not perfect, I made mistakes. I tried to improve, but today, election day, nobody talks about crises anymore. Nobody talks about scandals anymore, nobody talks about corruption anymore.”
The 2018 World Cup in Russia provided FIFA with a financial boost, helping the organisation to secure a $1.05 billion (CHF1.04 billion) profit in the 2015-2018 cycle between the showcase tournaments. Financial reserves rose to $2.75 billion, an increase of 80%, as the last edition of the World Cup netted $4.6 billion.
Over the last few years, FIFA’s internal crackdown on corruption has seen numerous officials thrown out of the sporting body and banned from football related activities. Prosecutors from Switzerland and around the world continue to investigate the tangled web of corruption.
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“We have to stop the self-regulation of Fifa,” Pieth told RTS. “They are clearly not able to regulate themselves. States need to intervene, not just Switzerland on its own, but perhaps states from within the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] or the Council of Europe.” Pieth is a criminology professor at Basel University who was…
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We outline the events of the last few days below. Based on the bad press the ‘new’ FIFA has been receiving, do you think Infantino was bound was bound to face some initial teething problems given FIFA’s murky past, or is it a sign that football’s world governing body is beyond reform? When he was…
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A Swiss citizen from Canton Valais, with a long career in football administration, wants to become President of FIFA. Sound familiar?
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.