‘Unopposed’ Infantino to continue for next four years as FIFA president

FIFA president Gianni Infantino is getting four more years in charge of football’s governing body after no candidate stepped up to challenge him.

FIFA said the 52-year-old Swiss lawyer was the only person to enter the race by the time the deadline passed – exactly four months before election day on March 16 in Kigali, Rwanda.

Infantino won a five-candidate race in 2016 to replace Sepp Blatter, and was re-elected unopposed in 2019. He is now set to stay in the job beyond the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

FIFA rules also permit Infantino to run for a final time in 2026, which would mean he would stay in power for another World Cup cycle until 2031.

A quirk of FIFA’s statutes means the first three years of Infantino’s presidency – when he completed an unfinished term started by Blatter – does not count against the 12-year limit agreed to in reforms passed during a prolonged corruption crisis before his first election.

One political threat to Infantino’s leadership is an investigation by two special prosecutors in Switzerland into his three undocumented meetings with then-attorney general Michael Lauber in 2016 and 2017, during American and Swiss federal investigations of football officials.

It is currently unclear how that case, which is being overseen by the Swiss parliament, is proceeding or how much jurisdiction it has over Infantino as a private citizen. He has denied all wrongdoing.

Infantino still needs to pass an integrity and eligibility check carried out by a FIFA-appointed review panel chaired by a judge from India, Mukul Mudgal.

Source: Sky Sports