Infantino to serve another four-year term as FIFA President

Zurich: FIFA President Gianni Infantino will stand unopposed for a third term as head of world football’s governing body next year, FIFA confirmed yesterday. A brief statement from FIFA said that Infantino would be the only candidate when the election takes place at the 73rd FIFA Congress in Kigali, Rwanda, on March 16.

“No other candidature has been submitted,” the statement said yesterday.

Infantino’s third term follows in the line of previous FIFA presidents – Joao Havelange was in charge from 1974 to 1998 and Infantino’s predecessor Sepp Blatter held office from 1998 to 2015.

Infantino was elected in 2016 promising to “restore FIFA’s image” after the federation was plagued by scandal in the final years of Blatter’s time in charge. The German Football Federation (DFB) said on Wednesday it would not support Infantino’s re-election.

Infantino can point to the growth in FIFA’s turnover during his time in charge – the governing body is forecasting turnover of $7bn for the fouryear cycle till 2022.

But many of his proposals for the reform of club football, including a plan to expand the Club World Cup to 24 teams, have received a lukewarm reception.