Newly elected FIFA President Gianni Infantino will mark his first working day as president on Monday by playing in a football match with Swiss-based FIFA employees "battered for months by an unfolding corruption scandal," according to Brian Homewood of REUTERS.
The match "symbolizes a return to the primary focus of FIFA that for some has been lost in tales of high-living by top executives and abuses that culminated in the banning of Infantino's veteran predecessor Sepp Blatter for six years."
When he walks into the presidential office at FIFA's headquarters on a Zurich hilltop, "the new incumbent will quickly have to deal with financial and administrative problems, bring back sponsors, motivate a demoralized work force and engage with clubs and players who are growing increasingly disillusioned." Previously general secretary of UEFA, Infantino "must also dispel the notion he was elected to represent only the interests of his own powerful continent." One of the Swiss national’s earliest tasks "will be to appoint a secretary general to take charge of day-to-day operations, a post Infantino has already indicated will go to a non-European."
Another priority "will be to lift the morale of the 400-odd employees at FIFA, many of whom are highly-qualified and have soldiered on for the last eight months trying to ignore the chaos at the top."
Infantino: "They went through a difficult time, a difficult period and I want to tell them that I count on them, that I believe in them and we will do great things together" (REUTERS, 2/28).
MONEY TALKS: In London, David Connett wrote money talks, "the saying goes." Infantino, the Swiss lawyer who had promised to share more of FIFA’s wealth "with his voters than his rivals, staged a remarkable coup to grab the president’s role in football’s scandal-hit governing body." Blatter’s successor, who was backed by England’s FA, "pledged to rebuild and win back respect for football, saying he wanted to put the game itself back 'centre-stage.'" Infantino, a former protégé of the suspended UEFA President Michel Platini, insisted he is not a politician but a football man who "would put the game first."
Crucially he promised to share FIFA’s wealth, "more than doubling football development grants to the 209 member associations." Infantino: "FIFA has gone through sad times, moments of crisis, but those times are over. We need to implement the reforms and implement good governance and transparency. We also need to have respect." His campaign, backed by Europe’s footballing elite, picked up late momentum and on Feb. 26, the Inter Milan fan "comfortably defeated" the pre-vote favorite Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain by 115 votes to 88 in the second round of voting.
Sheikh Salman, who has faced strong criticism of his human rights record, "was predicted to have the biggest share" of the first-round vote but trailed Infantino by three votes. The majority of supporters who backed Jordan’s Prince Ali bin al-Hussein and the French diplomat Jérôme Champagne then switched support to Infantino, "giving him victory" (INDEPENDENT, 2/26). REUTERS' Mike Collett wrote Infantino's election should give FIFA the time it needs "to begin tackling the corruption and other problems that have dragged it into the worst crisis in its 112-year history, current and former officials said."
As well as electing a new president, FIFA "signed off on a slew of reforms that may help restore its credibility." Former Norwegian FA President Per Ravn Omdal said, "This will be a new era for FIFA despite the problems it faces. Let him have time to settle, to see what needs to be done and let everyone calm down a little."
One FIFA insider who asked not to be named said that it may also help that the organization "did not pick" Sheikh Salman "who had repeatedly had to deny any role in his country's crackdown on pro-democracy protests five years ago." He said,
"If Sheikh Salman had won this election, becoming president after allegations against him involving human rights abuses, the attention from the justice authorities would have been unrelenting. The temperature would have gone past boiling point. We can all take a step back now." South African Tokyo Sexwale, "who withdrew his candidature for the presidency moments before the voting began," said, "I think it is a great privilege for us to see him leading this organization out of the current quagmire it finds itself" (REUTERS, 2/27).
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WORLD CUP PROMISE: The BBC's Richard Conway wrote Infantino denied that promises to the U.S. "over who will host the 2026 World Cup secured his election win."
U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati "switched his vote to Infantino in the second round of Friday's voting."
Infantino said, "I spoke with many delegates. ... trying to tell them that they should vote for football and for me."
Asked if he made promises to Gulati about the 2026 tournament, he added, "No, certainly not."
Following the election, Gulati said, "We told Gianni that we would support Prince Ali but also gave him the assurance that when it mattered we would be with him" (BBC, 2/28).
'A NEW DAWN': In London, Samuel Stevens wrote FA Chair Greg Dyke "hinted England could yet launch a bid" to host the World Cup in '30 following the election of Infantino.
Dyke: "The reason we wouldn't deal with a Blatter FIFA is because we didn't think we'd win. And there was so much bad blood from the last time we tried -- at government level as well as at the FA level. It was almost impossible to deal with [Blatter]. This is a new day, a new dawn. I think we will certainly try to win some tournaments." Speaking to the world’s media following election, Infantino said, "Today we have to build bridges, not build walls. Football can certainly do that. I want to focus on football. Today it was an election, but not a war" (INDEPENDENT, 2/27). The PA reported Dyke "called for greater transparency in FIFA's financial dealings" following Infantino's election as president.
Dyke "is demanding a visible money trail in a bid to avoid the kind of scandal which has engulfed the federation in recent months."
He pointed in particular to the €5M loan to the FA of Ireland -- which was later written off -- "sanctioned by Blatter in an attempt to head off a legal challenge over the Thierry Henry handball which cost the Republic of Ireland their chance of qualification for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa."
Dyke: "If you have got someone like Gianni, you have got more chance of that being done properly -- it's certainly done properly in UEFA -- so that you know where the money is being spent because we all want more money to go to countries around the world where you need money to develop football, and some countries need it more than others"
(PA, 2/28).
INFANTINO'S SALARY: The AP's Harris & Dunbar wrote "a sign of the FIFA president's newly-diminished powers will come" when Infantino's salary is revealed.
The head of world football "will no longer be the best-paid person in the governing body under reforms instigated to curb the president's powers after corruption scandals that threatened FIFA's existence."
Instead, Infantino's No. 2 -- a CEO in an overhauled FIFA structure -- "will now receive a bigger pay packet than the president, a person with knowledge of the situation said Saturday."
A three-man remuneration committee "decided that neither Infantino nor his CEO should earn more than Blatter," who was reported to have earned around $6M -- a figure not denied by FIFA and which is likely to have fluctuated based on bonuses. The person said that
Infantino "will have no influence over commercial contracts so will not receive bonuses" (PA, 2/27).
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ASIA CALLS FOR UNITY: REUTERS' Peter Rutherford wrote Asian football said that "it was looking forward" to working with Infantino, despite the region's two candidates losing out to the Swiss in Friday's election, and called for unity to help push the reform process forward. Football Federation Australia Chair Steven Lowy said that the election "marked an opportunity to begin the long road back to restoring its reputation."
While Australia had come out in support of Prince Ali ahead of the vote, Lowy described the election as "the best day FIFA has had in many years." He said,
"The mood for change was in the air and the Congress voted overwhelmingly to move forward with a new structure and new leadership to implement it" (REUTERS, 2/26). The AFP reported Olympic Council of Asia President Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah on Saturday hailed Infantino’s victory as a "new era" but warned "reform won’t happen overnight."
Al Sabah said, "As a member of the FIFA Reform Committee I was proud to be able to contribute to the proposals but I know that we still have a long way to go -- reform cannot happen overnight. ... However, under the new leadership of President Infantino ... I believe we have established a foundation from which we can drive forward and once again put the joy back into football." Meanwhile, former FIFA official Jérôme Champagne said the vote represented a return "by FIFA’s Anglo-Saxon world." He said, "The election of Gianni Infantino illustrates the return of FIFA’s Anglo-Saxon world and the revenge of Europe after 1974" (AFP, 2/28). The BBC reported Confederation of African Football President Issa Hayatou has formally written to Infantino "to congratulate him" after being voted in as president. Infantino was not the favored candidate of CAF, "who had given its backing to Sheikh Salman." Despite that, Cameroon's Hayatou -- who had been FIFA's acting president in the lead-up to the election -- sent Infantino a letter, dated Feb. 27, congratulating him on behalf of the CAF exec committee and "the African football family." He wrote, "Be assured of the continued support of Caf, African members of the new Fifa Council, as well as our commitment to strengthening the excellent relationship between Caf and Fifa" (BBC, 2/28).
FIFA MUSEUM: REUTERS' Franklin & Homewood wrote Infantino "opened FIFA's new museum" in his first official act as president on Sunday. FIFA said it had invested 110M Swiss francs ($110M) in renovating the building with 30M Swiss francs "spent on the museum itself, which features more than 1,000 exhibits."
Infantino: "This is the place where football will be lived and breathed. Here you can catch the football virus, if you are not already a carrier. This is only about football" (REUTERS, 2/28).
SWEEPING CHANGES: FS1’s Rob Stone said of FIFA passing a reform package, “These are sweeping, sweeping reforms with councils and transparency. It’s exactly what FIFA needs to bring it back into the 21st century.” FIFA Executive Committee Member Sonia Bien-Aime said of the aspect of the reform package that mandates the new 36-member FIFA committee include six women, “It’s everything, not just for women in football, but football on the whole. … I think it is generally known that people classify football to be a men’s world and, yes, there are a lot of challenges for women along the way. I don’t think it has ended. I think this is the beginning of progress for women’s football, and obviously we’ll need to keep working and promoting and we’ll need to keep trying to enforce more regulations … to include more women’s involvement." Asked about the possibility of a female FIFA president in the future, Bien-Aime said, “I don’t think I am interested, but, hey, I don’t know. Maybe one day” (“FIFA Presidential Election,” FS1, 2/26).
