Thu Mar 16, 2023 12:05 pm
Gianni Infantino has been re-elected as FIFA President.
He ran unopposed in the leadership election help at a Congress in Rwanda - the first FIFA Congress to be held in Africa.
He has been FIFA President since 2016 and will now remain in the role until at least 2027.
In his acceptance speech, he said:
“To those who love me, and I know there are many, and those who hate me - I know there are a few. I love you all. Especially today.”
He also commented on the Congress being held in Rwanda, particularly referencing The Rwandan Genocide that happened in 1994 when ethnic Hutsu extremists slaughtered hundreds of thousands of the Tutsi minority in 100 days of mass murder:
"It is a historical congress because it is the first FIFA electoral congress taking place in Africa
A story I want to tell you about this beautiful country is that it has a particular relationship with me.
When I was campaigning to become FIFA president [in 2016], Rwanda hosted the African Nations Championship and I came, full of hope, twice to Rwanda, first for the opening game, when I met many of the African associations and for the final game.
First time I came, I was full of energy and full of hope. And the second time I came I was told, ‘well we all love you, but actually we’re not going to support you in the election’. So of course I was pretty depressed, about to give up and had already packed and then suddenly somebody came to see me with a match for the final, because I had no ticket – by the way, the DRC won – and he said ‘This is a ticket offered to you by President Paul Kagame’.
And then I decided, I thought about it, and I remembered my visit to the [genocide] memorial – and you should all visit it – and I said ‘Who am I to give up?’ What this country has suffered, and how this country came back up for the entire world, dear President. So I certainly couldn’t give up because somebody was telling me something.
I stayed, I attended the match, I continued to campaign, I was elected FIFA president a few months later. But most importantly I witnessed how this country flourished – and this country flourished with nothing, with hope, with compassion, with commitment, with hard work and with leadership.
And today it’s a beautiful country and I’m sure everyone here would come back with their friends and their families to visit, not only Kigali, but also the rural areas – the gorillas, the beauties that you can see here and in the neighbouring countries."
He also confirmed he wants to see more football matches being played. A 48-team World Cup has already been confirmed for 2026 in the USA, Mexico and Canada. A 32-team Club World Cup has also been announced to take place every four years, starting from 2025:
"When I hear there is too much football, yes, maybe in some places, but not everywhere.
In fact, in most parts of the world there is not enough football played.
We need way more and not less competitions, we want football to develop worldwide.
We are discussing organising a women's Club World Cup and a Fifa World Series in March every two years, when teams are free from playing qualifiers."
Something else he mentioned was the possibility of FIFA bringing a salary cap into football:
"We must improve our regulations and the Fifa statutes.
We will continue to evolve our good governance principles and look at the transfer system, and maybe have a discussion to improve transparency of transfer fees and salaries.
It might be necessary to introduce a cap, we have to think how we can do that. We will look at it with all stakeholders and see what we can do."
Speaking about the women's game in his closing remarks, Infantino also said the total prize money for the 2023 Women's World Cup will be $150m (£124.3m) compared to $15m (£12.4m) in 2015. Last year's men's World Cup in Qatar had a total prize fund of $440m (£364.7m).
"Our mission will be able to have equality in payments for 2026 men's and 2027 women's World Cups."