We finally have a new FIFA president.
On Friday morning Gianni Infantino was voted the new FIFA president by the FIFA Congress. The UEFA General Secretary took home 115 votes in the second round of voting. A total of 104 votes were needed to win the election during the second round of voting.
Candidate |
Vote Total |
|---|---|
Gianni Infantino |
115 |
Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa |
88 |
Prince Ali bin al-Hussein |
4 |
Jerome Champagne |
0 |
The 45-year-old Swiss football administrator has been UEFA's General Secretary since 2009, serving under Michel Platini, who was UEFA's President until he was banned from the sport in December. The length of that ban was recently reduced from eight years to six years after an appeal.
Infantino oversaw the expansion of the European Championship to 24 teams and currently serves on FIFA's Reform Committee alongside Canada Soccer Association president Victor Montagliani.
Infantino, who earned the Canadian Soccer Association's vote, took home 88 of the 207 votes during the first round of voting, edging out Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa by three votes. Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, US Soccer's pre-election choice, finished third with 27 votes while Jerome Champagne finished with seven votes.
Gulati later confirmed in an interview with FOX Sports that US Soccer voted for Infantino in the second round.
The second round of voting was necessary since no candidate reached the 138-vote threshold for election during the first round. This is the first time that a FIFA presidential election has gone to a second round of voting since 1974.
Earlier in the day, sweeping reforms were also approved by the FIFA Congress, including greater transparency and term limits.
