Gianni Infantino has been re-elected until 2027, with the decision being announced during the 73rd Congress in Kigali, Rwanda, on Thursday, where Infantino stood unopposed.
Although not universally popular among member associations for his failed plan to play the World Cup every two years, Infantino’s re-election was a formality.
In his acceptance speech, Infantino opened with an anecdote describing how he first came to Kigali when he campaigned in 2016 and almost quit the race, before he likened his refusal to give up to how Rwanda recovered after its genocide in 1994.
Infantino confirmed that FIFA’s income hit record levels in the last cycle from 2019-22 and promised to raise this again on the back of expanded men’s and women’s World Cup tournaments and the introduction of a 32-team Club World Cup.
In his speech, Infantino, said: “It is an incredible honour and privilege, and a great responsibility.”
“I promise to continue serving FIFA and football around the world.
“Revenues rose to a record US$7.5 billion [in 2022] in a period that was hit by COVID-19.
“When I arrived, FIFA reserves stood at around US$1 billion, today they are at almost US$4 billion.
“We promise new record revenues for the next cycle of US$11 billion, and the new Club World Cup is not included in that figure, so it could increase by a couple of billion.
“We must improve our regulations and the FIFA statutes.
“We will continue to evolve our good governance principles and look at the transfer system, and maybe have a discussion to improve transparency of transfer fees and salaries.
“It might be necessary to introduce a cap, we have to think how we can do that. We will look at it with all stakeholders and see what we can do,” he said.
Infantino was first elected in an Extraordinary Congress in 2016 following the resignation of his predecessor Sepp Blatter and retained his position unopposed three years later.
This counts as his second term of office, and he will therefore be available for a third and final term in four years’ time.
