Gianni Infantino was born on 23 March 1970 in Brig, Switzerland. He is of Italian origin from Calabria and Lombardy. He studied law at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, and speaks Italian, French, German, English, and Spanish fluently.

Prior to joining UEFA, Gianni Infantino worked as the Secretary General of the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) at the University of Neuchâtel, having previously been an adviser to a variety of football bodies in Italy, Spain and Switzerland.[2]

Career at UEFA:
Since his appointment, he has been part of a leadership team which has helped to further strengthen both national team and club football in Europe, and UEFA's role as a respected and credible international governing body.

At the helm of UEFA's administration, Gianni Infantino has intensified UEFA's work to provide a sustainable environment for European football, through initiatives such as Financial Fair Play, improved commercial support to national associations of all sizes and the development of UEFA's competitions at every level of the game. He oversaw the expansion of UEFA Euro 2016 to 24 teams and played an integral role in the conception of the UEFA Nations League and the UEFA Euro 2020 that will see the tournament take place in 13 European nations. He is currently also serving as a member of FIFA's Reform Committee.

Gianni Infantino came to UEFA in August 2000, working on a range of legal, commercial and professional football matters, and was appointed Director of UEFA's Legal Affairs and Club Licensing Division in January 2004. Throughout this time he also led UEFA's work in fostering close contacts with the European Union, the Council of Europe and governmental authorities. He was promoted to Deputy General Secretary in 2007.

Confrontation with Greek government
In 2015, the Greek government decided to introduce a new sports law in response to the recent scandal and acts of violence and corruption mainly in Greek football. Gianni Infantino, as UEFA's general secretary, led the negotiations with the Greek government. UEFA and FIFA supported the Hellenic Football Federation and sent a warning to Greece that it faces suspension from international football for government interference.

FIFA president
Gianni Infantino confirmed his decision to stand for the position of FIFA President on 26 October 2015, following the unanimous backing of UEFA Executive Committee on the same day. He has submitted the required declarations of support. He wants to expand the FIFA World Cup to 40 teams if elected FIFA president.

He was elected FIFA President on 26 February 2016 for a period of 3 years from 2016 to 2019.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianni_Infantino

Infantino, 45, a Swiss lawyer and career sports administrator rather than a committee-clambering football politician, seemed an unlikely replacement for the grand, world famous Platini, but he briskly stepped up to the challenge. In his campaign, flying the equivalent air miles of five times round the globe to meet Fifa’s vote-wielders in person, Infantino has shown himself to be not just a technocrat, but shrewdly aware of football’s political heart: self-interest.

His slick manifesto promises all the correct themes:
transparency,
good governance,
support for the reforms proposed as Fifa’s life raft from its sea of disgrace.

But large dollar signs are – literally – at the centre of it. Highlighting the “very significant increase” in money he is promising to the voting football associations, two pages are devoted to spelling out the cash on the table. Each of Fifa’s football associations in 209 countries is promised $5m over four years, while the confederations – the six continental blocs including Uefa – will be paid $40m. There is another $4m regionally for youth tournaments and – personally very important to the delegates gathered in Zurich to vote – $1m for travel costs.

The cash Fifa distributes from the billions made selling TV rights and sponsorship for the four-yearly World Cup has under Blatter’s 17-year presidency been a constant focus of suspicion. It was considered prey to corruption in the receiving country, and a way for the president to buy support. The reforms promise closer auditing and a separation of the president from personal involvement in where the money goes, but still, Infantino has shown he knows what moves Fifa’s constituents. He pointedly noted that he began his campaign in Cairo and ended it in Cape Town – Africa’s 54 associations are grateful recipients of Fifa investment, and usually decisive in a Fifa vote.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Gianni Infantino devoted two pages of his slick manifesto to spelling out the cash on the table. Photograph: Ennio Leanza/EPA Other attractions Infantino has offered include giving each country’s association, however tiny or huge, an equal vote; expanding the World Cup from 32 to 40 countries; and engaging more with clubs, the wealthy engines of world football who have long objected to their exclusion from Fifa.


So Infantino is a mixture peculiarly formed by Switzerland’s officer class of sports administrators: an accomplished executive who has has pledged a clean-up of football’s corrupt culture, but who understands how its world works. Born in Brig, a Swiss-German speaking Alpine town close to the border with Italy, he studied law at Fribourg university, then worked as the secretary general of the International Centre for Sports Studies at the University of Neuchâtel. He joined Uefa in 2000, worked his way carefully up to become director of the legal affairs and club licensing division in 2004, before becoming general secretary, effectively the chief executive, in 2009.

He can justifiably cite genuine achievements during that time in Uefa’s HQ, besides longevity of survival, itself a feat in a highly rivalrous environment. The increased commercialisation and lucrative sales of TV rights for the European Championships – for national teams – and Champions League – for clubs – has been balanced by improved social programmes and backing for supporter ownership of clubs. “Financial fair play”, a somewhat toe-curling soubriquet, and not one associated with Fifa, was introduced in 2010, requiring top European clubs to staunch their losses from paying excessive players wages. Uefa argues it has turned the game’s finances around, cutting losses by 70% in its first three years.

Criticism of Infantino at Uefa has centred around him keeping close to his boss as Platini grew increasingly presidential while eyeing the accession to football’s top job in Zurich. Now Infantino has nipped in himself. If he really is to make good on his manifesto, feed football’s barons while cleaning up the game, he has an enormous task.

one thing i like about this man

he speaks


italia

english


and

french

wow