Swiss
football administrator Gianni Infantino became the new FIFA president after winning
the election on the second ballot, gaining 115 votes and beating Sheikh Salman
al-Khalifa who got 88. Infantino looked visibly stunned after being announced
as the winner. Prince Ali bin al-Hussein (four votes) and Jerome Champagne
(zero votes) were third and fourth respectively.
The
45-year-old former general secretary of UEFA also holds citizenship of Italy
and Greece. He succeeded Sepp Blatter to become the ninth president of FIFA.
Blatter, who had led FIFA since 1998, stood down last year and was later
suspended for six years for breaching ethics guidelines.
Sheikh
Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, a member of Bahrain’s royal family, was
considered the favorite to become the next FIFA president in Friday’s election
but faced questions about possible connections to the bloody crackdown on
pro-democracy protesters in his country.
Many
of the game’s top officials have been charged with crimes, including
corruption, bribery and money laundering. Against that backdrop, FIFA’s members
accepted a significant shift on Friday, ratifying an extensive package of
governance reforms, including measures that diminish the president’s power,
before electing Infantino to implement the changes, which he endorsed during
his campaign.
The FIFA
Council consists of 36 members, out of which six spots are kept exclusively for
women.
Post
his win, Infantino said: “A new era has been started as we speak.” “You will be
proud of FIFA. You will be proud of what FIFA will do for football,” he added.
No comments:
Post a Comment