Gianni Infantino re-elected as FIFA president unopposed
Wednesday 5 June 2019 11:33, UK
Gianni Infantino was re-elected FIFA president unopposed at the congress of world football's governing body in Paris on Wednesday.
Upon announcement of his re-election he claimed to have turned the organisation from being "toxic and almost criminal" back to its core values.
Infantino's re-election was marked by a round of applause from the congress after the statutes were changed earlier in the day to no longer require a vote if there was only one candidate for the position.
The 49-year old Swiss-Italian was first elected in February 2016 to replace Sepp Blatter and will begin a second term as president lasting four years until 2023.
In his closing speech, an emotional Infantino thanked the delegates from FIFA's 211 member associations for their support and promised he would "not stand still" but would continue to develop the game and "defend football".
One of Infantino's main influences so far during his FIFA presidency is the expansion of the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams, which will begin in 2026, and he says his priorities would be the creation of more youth competitions, a continued push on women's football and more investment in technology.
Since taking over FIFA at a point of corruption and scandal, Infantino believes he has changed the perception of the organisation for the better in his first term.
He said: "Well the last three years and four months have certainly not been perfect. I have made mistakes certainly and I try to improve and do this better but today on an election day nobody talks about crisis.
"Nobody talks about rebuilding FIFA from scratch. Nobody talks about scandals. Nobody talks about corruption.
"This organisation went from being toxic, almost criminal to what it should be, an organisation that develops football, an organisation that cares about football.
"We have transformed it into a new FIFA, an organisation which is synonymous with credibility, trust, integrity, equality, human rights."
