Infantino, unopposed: will govern FIFA for another three years

Infantino, who has received broad backing from confederations and national associations, was the only name submitted before the deadline, FIFA said on Thursday.

Infantino, 52, has campaigned hard over the past month, seeking individual backing from national associations, and significantly cemented his position.

He will be re-elected at the FIFA congress in Rwanda next March for a third term.

Infantino won the coveted presidency of the Zurich entity in 2016 in an initial three-year term, replacing Sepp Blatter, and was re-elected in 2019.

He thanked more than 200 member associations that FIFA said had offered their support for another term as president.

“I would just like to put on record my great thanks to the more than 200 FIFA member associations and six confederations that have supported me.”Infantino was quoted as saying in a statement.

“I am humbled and honored to be able to serve the global soccer community for the next four years,” he added.

Infantino quickly rose from his role as UEFA general secretary to one of the most powerful positions in world sport.

The Swiss official defeated the president of the Asian Football Confederation, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain, in the final round of the 2016 election after Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan and Frenchman Jerome Champagne were removed.

But he owed his candidacy to the fact that Europe’s favorite candidate, his former boss and UEFA president Michel Platini, was banned from football along with Blatter for ethics violations. Both men have denied any wrongdoing and a Swiss court cleared them of fraud charges earlier this year.

Infantino was later re-elected unopposed, having won a second term at the FIFA Congress in Paris in 2019.

Since taking office, he has overseen the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams by 2026. The tournament will be hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.