Gianni Infantino marks decade as Fifa president amid expansion and controversy
Gianni Infantino has reached 10 years as Fifa president, overseeing a period of vast financial recovery and competition expansion while facing criticism from players and European leagues.
It has been a decade since the Swiss administrator was elected with a specific remit to rescue football’s world governing body.
The years since have been defined by radical reform, aggressive expansion and, increasingly, conflict with key stakeholders.
Infantino took charge with the organisation engulfed by corruption allegations following the resignation of his predecessor, Sepp Blatter.
Finances were in a desperate state at the time, with a reported £392m deficit after major sponsors walked away.
Record revenues and financial recovery
In Infantino, the game felt it had found a safe pair of hands to stabilise the ship.
“I will work tirelessly to bring football back to Fifa, and Fifa back to football.”
Gianni Infantino, speaking upon his election in 2016
Ten years later, there is no doubt the governing body is in rude financial health.
Fifa expects to report record revenues of £9.6bn ($13bn) for the three-year cycle ending this year.
However, those figures are boosted by the controversial new Club World Cup and the largest-ever World Cup, which has drawn criticism for high ticket prices.
The 54-year-old has frequently clashed with players’ unions and European football bodies, yet he remains in an apparently impregnable position at the summit of the global game.
Emerging from Platini’s shadow
It is easily forgotten that Michel Platini was originally intended to be Blatter’s successor.
After the former France captain was implicated in the organisation’s scandal – though both he and Blatter were later cleared of corruption – Infantino became Uefa’s preferred candidate.
As general secretary of European football’s governing body, he had served as Platini’s right-hand man for seven years.
To many casual observers, he was previously known simply as the official who presented Champions League draws.
Turning Fifa around was a monumental task given the US Department of Justice had indicted numerous top executives.
A mandate for expansion
Two pages of the Swiss official’s initial manifesto were devoted to doubling development money for member associations.
This funding covered new competitions, infrastructure, and travel costs for smaller nations.
Expanding the World Cup was also a key pledge, initially targeting 40 teams before being rubberstamped as a 48-team tournament within a year.
The 2016 election itself was a tense affair.
In the first round, Infantino held a slim lead over Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, the president of the Asian confederation.
He eventually secured victory by 115 votes to 88 after votes from other candidates were reallocated.
“This is a new day, a new dawn.”
Greg Dyke, former Football Association chairman