Infantino to serve another four-year term as FIFA President
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[November 18, 2022]
By Mark Gleeson
DOHA (Reuters) - FIFA President Gianni Infantino will serve another
four-year term at the helm of world soccer’s governing body after
emerging as the only candidate for the next election in March.
Infantino, who has received widespread backing from confederations
and national associations, was the only name submitted by the
Wednesday deadline, FIFA said on Thursday.
Infantino, 52, has campaigned hard over the last month, seeking
individual endorsements from national associations, and
significantly solidified his position.
He will be re-elected at the FIFA congress in Rwanda in March for a
third term.
Infantino won the FIFA presidency in 2016 on an initial three-year
term, replacing Sepp Blatter, and was re-elected in 2019.
He thanked more than 200 members associations who FIFA said had
offered him their backing for another term as President.
"I would like simply, because again it’s the first time I speak
publicly today, to put on record my big thanks for the over 200
member associations of FIFA, all the six confederations who have
supported me," Infantino said in a statement.
"I feel humbled and honoured to be able to serve the global football
community for the next four years."
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Infantino rose swiftly from his post
as UEFA general secretary to one of the most powerful positions in
world sport.
The Swiss official beat Asian
Football Confederation President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al
Khalifa of Bahrain in the final round of that 2016 election after
Jordan’s Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein and Frenchman Jerome Champagne
had been eliminated.
But he owed his candidacy to the fact that Europe’s preferred
candidate, his former boss and UEFA president Michel Platini, was
banned from football along with Blatter for ethics violations. Both
men denied wrongdoing and were acquitted of fraud charges by a Swiss
court this year.
Infantino was then re-elected unopposed, having won a second term at
FIFA’s Paris Congress in 2019.
Since taking over, he has overseen the expansion of the World Cup to
48 teams in 2026. The tournament will be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico
and the United States.
(Editing by Ed Osmond)
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