Infantino unopposed to get four more years

DOHA: FIFA president Gianni Infantino is getting four more years in charge of football’s governing body after no candidate stepped up to challenge him.

FIFA said on Thursday the 52-year-old Swiss lawyer was the only person to enter the race by the time the deadline passed overnight – exactly four months before election day on March 16 in Kigali, Rwanda.

Infantino won a five-candidate race in 2016 to replace Sepp Blatter and was re-elected unopposed in 2019. He’s now set to stay in the job beyond the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Infantino’s upcoming re-election to the Us$3mil (Rm14mil)-per-year job may not be his final term in office. FIFA rules allow him to run again to stay in power for another World Cup cycle until 2031.