Gianni Infantino has been re-elected as President of the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) during the 73rd Congress in Kigali, Rwanda. This is Infantino’s second full term in office and it will run for four years. He ran unopposed.
In his victory speech, Infantino promised to increase FIFA’s revenue in the next four years to $11 billion from several international and club tournaments, sponsors, and investments.
The Swiss said the football governing body closed the 2019-2022 cycle with $7.5 billion on the books. He said that FIFA reserves stood at $1 billion when he took over the leadership from Sepp Blatter in 2016, and are currently standing at $4 billion.
“It is an incredible honour and privilege, and a great responsibility. I promise to continue serving FIFA and football around the world. To those that love me, and I know there are many, and those who hate me, I love you all,” Infantino said at the convention after re-election.
“We promise new record revenues for the next cycle of $11 billion, and the new Club World Cup is not included in that figure, so it could increase by a couple of billion (more),” he added.
Revenues aside, Infantino also highlighted the importance of enforcing FIFA’s regulations. Good football governance and transfer transparency.
“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,” Infantino said.
Infantino, who guided FIFA to holding a successful World Cup in Qatar last year amidst western backlash, is eligible for a third and final term in four years’ time.
