Gianni Infantino Becomes New FIFA President After Winning Election

 

The UEFA secretary general polled 115 votes, 27 more than closest rival Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa. Prince Ali bin al-Hussein (4 votes) and Jerome Champagne (0) were third and fourth respectively.

Blatter, who had led Fifa since 1998, stood down last year and was later banned from football for six years for breaching ethics guidelines.

Infantino is a 45-year-old lawyer from Brig in the Valais region of Switzerland, less than six miles from Blatter's hometown of Visp. He only entered the presidential race when it became clear that Michael Platini, boss of European football's governing body UEFA, would not be allowed to stand.

An emotional Infantino told delegates that he was finding it hard to "express my feelings in this moment". But he told delegates that together they would "restore the image of Fifa and the respect of Fifa".

It will be recalled that this was the same position Nigeria’s Segun Odegbami had eyed, but failed to meet up certain requirements.