Gianni Infantino has today been elected as the President of FIFA for the remainder of the current term of office (until 2019) by the Extraordinary FIFA Congress held in Zurich. He was elected as the ninth FIFA President after the second ballot with 115 of 207 total votes. In line with the FIFA Statutes, the mandate of the new FIFA President started after the conclusion of the Congress.

At the beginning of the proceedings, it was confirmed to the Congress that 207 FIFA member associations were entitled to vote (the member associations of Indonesia and Kuwait could not vote due to their respective suspensions). The candidate Tokyo Sexwale withdrew from the election after his address to the Congress.

Earlier in the day, the Extraordinary FIFA Congress approved a set of landmark reforms to FIFA’s governance structure, including improvements to the governance of global football, a clear separation of commercial and political decision-making, greater scrutiny of senior officials, and commitments to women in football and human rights.
19 minutes ago


Gianni Infantino has been elected as the man to replace Sepp Blatter as Fifa president, winning an overall majority in the second round of voting.

The Swiss-Italian edged ahead of favourite Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa in the first ballot but failed to secure the two-thirds of the vote required to secure victory.

Infantino picked up 115 votes in the second round, eleven over the 104 he required, to secure the presidency in Zurich. Sheikh Salman, meanwhile, received the backing of 88 nations while Prince Ali al-Hussein was supported by just four.

I cannot express my feelings in this moment,” he told the Fifa extraordinary congress immediately after being elected. “I told you I went through an exceptional journey, which made me meet many fantastic people, who live and breathe football, and many people deserve to see Fifa is highly respected. Everyone in the world will applaud us for what we will do. Everyone will be proud of what we will do.”

Infantino will be in office until 2019 after a raft of new reforms were passed this morning. Chiefly among the accepted reforms package is the decision to set fixed terms of three or four years for presidents while the benchmark has been set for full disclosure of the payment structure at Fifa. The executive committee will also undergo a transformation of sorts with it expected to now be replaced by a 36-member council designed to set global policies and include at least one female representative.

Infantino’s election followed an afternoon of drama which paid witness to rank outside Tokyo Sexwale pulling out of proceedings in the final stages of his speech to congress.

The South African businessman, a prominent anti-apartheid campaign who servied prison time alongside Nelson Mandela, told members: “My campaign ends today and I suspend my participation. I leave only four people.”


http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/fifa-presidential-election-live-latest-updates-from-zurich-as-sheikh-salman-and-gianni-infantino-vie-a6897366.html

Don't know much about Gianni Infantino. But goodluck to Him.

He should concentrate on free and fair play, say no to racism and promote African football.

wish him success but he shouldnt be like his predeccessor who is infected with Nigerian blood(bribery and corruption).

Are there no capable hands outside Europe?