FIFA boss Infantino re-elected in vote that is not a vote: ‘I love you’

Gianni Infantino has been re-elected president of FIFA amid loud applause. No vote took place in the Rwandan capital Kigali because, as in the previous election, there was no opposing candidate. The election was therefore a mere formality.

Infantino has been the boss of the world football federation since 2016. He calls his re-election a tremendous honor and a great responsibility. “I promise to continue to serve FIFA and global soccer,” he said.

He will continue to do so at least until 2027. This will officially be only his second term, as he initially succeeded Sepp Blatter, who resigned in 2015. In total, a FIFA president is allowed to serve three terms.

Swiss professor Mark Pieth thinks Gianni Infantino is even worse than his predecessor Sepp Blatter:

In his speech, in which he switched between English, French, German and Spanish, the 52-year-old Swiss professor thanked everyone for their support. “I know there are a lot of people here who love me. I know there are also some who hate me. I love you all, and especially today of course.”

At the congress in Rwanda, the re-elected president complimented himself on the revenues of the past four years. “Those have grown to $7.5 billion, over a billion more than budgeted. All member federations now receive an annual amount from FIFA that is seven times greater than before.”

The grown revenues are used to invest in soccer, he indicates. “Because the money from FIFA belongs to you. This money is for soccer and its development.”

“If a CEO did something like this, shareholders would want him to stay forever. But I’m only here for the next four years,” Infantino says. And he also has big plans for the next few years. He talks about at least $11 billion in revenue, which is more than 10 billion euros.

Despite all the commotion surrounding the past World Cup in Qatar, the KNVB is also voting for Gianni Infantino. And that leads to discussion at the table at Studio Voetbal:

An even higher amount is not inconceivable, according to the re-elected president, thanks to the revamped World Cup. “It could be a few billion more,” he said.

In his speech, he looked back on the past four years. “I promised to increase revenues and make FIFA more stable and transparent. I also wanted to regain the trust of sponsors and broadcasters. I was not so sure beforehand that this would succeed, but it did.”