Kinshasa, March 16th, 2023 (CPA). – The current president of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), Gianni Infantino, is the only candidate for his own succession at the head of the umbrella body of world football whose elections will be held Thursday March 19th, in Kigali, Rwanda where members are meeting in congress since Wednesday, March 14th, reports on Wednesday, the official website of the umbrella body of world football.
According to the source, President Gianni Infantino is assured of being re-elected as the sole candidate to head FIFA. He is the only candidate declared for re-election at Fifa. He should therefore be re-elected, despite the criticism. The Swiss-Italian is expected to run for another term until 2027. The next elections will take place this Thursday in Kigali, Rwanda.
« Without rival, but not without detractors: propelled in 2016 at the head of a FIFA decimated by scandals, the Italian-Swiss Gianni Infantino seems assured of winning on Thursday in Kigali a new four-year term, for which he already proposes projects. Gathered in the Rwandan capital for the 73rd Congress of the world football body, the delegates of the 211 member federations will have only one limited choice: to renew by acclamation the 52-year-old leader, the only one in the running as during his previous election in 2019, » the source said.
Infantino could go until 2031?
The former man of confidence of Michel Platini at the European Football Association (UEFA 2009-2016), unexpectedly elected to the presidency of FIFA after a case of questionable payment that swept both the three-time French Golden Ball and the former boss of the body Sepp Blatter, therefore seems assured to remain at the top of world football at least until 2027, or mark a symbolic disapproval.
« And while the Zurich-based organisation’s statutes now allow for three terms of up to four years, Infantino has already paved the way for staying on until 2031, declaring in mid-December that he was « still in his first term » as his 2016-2019 lease was incomplete. Since his arrival at the top of world football, he can boast a solid financial record, with an 18% increase in revenue and 45% increase in reserves over the 2019-22 cycle compared to the previous one, » the source added.
Above controversy
According to the source, the Norwegian federation promised to bring the only discordant note of the Congress on Thursday, having put on the agenda, a discussion on « reparation for human rights violations » related to Fifa competitions, while the organization has refused for months to compensate the families of workers who died or were injured on the construction sites in Qatar.
Gianni Infantino is concentrating on his new project, the source points out: « FIFA decided on December 16th to modify its Club World Cup to make it a four-team competition with 32 teams. This is a project that its boss has been trying to bring to fruition for years in order to entice broadcasters and compete with the lucrative Champions League.
But this initiative could well reawaken the fractures in football: on the same day, the World Leagues Forum denounced Fifa’s « unilateral decisions » while the calendar is « already overloaded », threatening the health of players, the balance between clubs and the economy of national competitions. Issues that do not seem to be the priority of Fifa and Infantino, she concluded. CPA/
