Gianni Infantino the man to usher FIFA into a new era

It’s easy to be cynical about Gianni Infantino’s election as FIFA’s new president, since cynicism is by now a proven starting point for anything FIFA-related. Who knows how many FIFA delegates Infantino had to woo or what promises he made on the road to a surprise victory in FIFA’s elections to replace Sepp Blatter at the head of world football’s governing body. The two-thirds majority he captured after the second round of voting, we must remember, was the same majority that voted for Blatter just last year.

Nevertheless, it’s more satisfying to marvel at his win in FIFA’s Extraordinary Congress that was most simply, extraordinary. Infantino defeated the favorite, Bahraini candidate Shaikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, at the second round of voting and his election and reform mandates offer a glimmer of hope for the corruption pillaged organization.

Infantino’s election is only the start of much wider reforms necessary to begin to restore FIFA’s integrity, but at very least prevents Sepp Blatter or one of his cronies from maintaining control. Unlike Shaikh Salman, Infantino has a clear human rights record and unlike Jerome Champagne, who received not a single vote in the second round, the Swiss lawyer and football administrator wasn’t a part of Blatter’s old administration. In his role as Secretary General of UEFA, which he held for seven years, Infantino had more applied knowledge of football politics than Prince Ali bin Hussein and in this respect was perhaps the most reputable candidate.

The United States, for one, voted for Prince Ali in the first round and Infantino in the second. Prince Ali appealed to a broader, widespread hope for ethical change within FIFA but Infantino always appealed more to FIFA’s underlying values: self-interest. He has claimed to have travelled enough to go around the world seven times in his campaign and has met with US Soccer President Sunil Gulati “six or seven times.”

“This is a good day for the sport,” beamed Gulati after the election on Fox’s coverage. “The reforms got passed this morning. We have a candidate [Infantino] that we’re supportive of, that we get along very well with, that understands the nuances of the American market. I think it’s a little early to talk about [World Cup] 2026, but you can rest assured that it got brought up in some of the discussions we’ve had over the last couple of days.”

Infantino’s candidacy was barely a seed two months ago, emerging out of the ashes of Michel Platini’s campaign in the fall. Although Platini was Infantino’s boss, the forty-five-year-old remained unscathed from Platini’s bribery scandal that cost the Italian legend his job.

Infantino is the youngest FIFA president Robert Guérin, who served for two years from 1904 as the organization’s first president. Infantino’s election marks a new era for FIFA and he appeared genuinely emotional when the results came in. “You will be proud of FIFA. You will be proud of what FIFA will do for football,” he rallied.

If his manifesto sounds far-fetched, trust that he has the capability and shrewdness to spearhead new reforms under the old system.

Homepage photo credit: Piotr Drabik, via Flickr