Who is the president of FIFA?

• Gianni Infantino is the current president of the  Federación Internacional de Futbol Asociación (FIFA).
• He has received mixed reviews for his leadership.
• He replaced Joseph Blatter.

Gianni Infantino is the current president of the  Federación Internacional de Futbol Asociación (FIFA) and has received mixed reviews for his leadership of the world’s largest soccer organization. Infantino is a Swiss lawyer of Italian origin has been FIFA’s president since February 26, 2016, according to Goal and CNN.

He replaced Sepp Blatter in February 2016. Infantino had previously served as UEFA’s secretary general since 2009 and began working for the organization in 2000. He was elected during an Extraordinary FIFA Congress in 2016 following a 2015 FIFA corruption case.

The FIFA scandal

Infantino was later implicated in the FIFA scandal because the Panama Papers showed that UEFA had dealings with figures they previously denied having worked with. He stated that he was «appalled» by the reports and said that he has never personally dealt with the parties involved.

Infantino was responsible for expanding Euro 2016 to 24 teams and has played a crucial role in both the UEFA Nations League and Euro 2020 which will take place across 13 European nations. Recently, he was criticized for holding the World Cup in Qatar because that country is accused of human rights abuses.

CRITICISM OVER THE WORLD CUP QATAR

Criticism has focused on the deaths of migrant workers and the conditions many endure in Qatar, including LGBTQ and women’s rights. Some artists protested the venue so Infantino was forced to respond.

“Today I feel Qatari. Today I feel Arab. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel like a migrant worker. I feel this, all this, because of what I have been seeing and what they have told me, since I don’t read, otherwise I would be depressed I think. What I have seen brings me back to my personal history. I am the son of migrant workers. My parents worked very, very hard in difficult situations.»

GIANNI INFANTINO ADVOCATED AID FOR QATAR

In the face of the criticism, Infantino said they would support marginalized people in the Middle East: “We need to invest in education, to give them a better future, to give them hope. We all need to educate ourselves. Reform and change take time. It took hundreds of years in our countries in Europe. It takes time everywhere, the only way to get results is to participate […] not yelling.»

And he added: “Let me also mention the LGBT situation. I have talked about this issue with the top leadership of the country several times, not just once. They have confirmed, and I can confirm, that everyone is welcome.”

HAS GIANNI INFANTINO BEEN INVOLVED IN OTHER SCANDALS?

The Swiss Prosecutor’s Office investigated FIFA president Gianni Infantino for a controversial flight he took from Suriname to Switzerland in 2017, a decision that came a week before his re-election was expected.

The Swiss Attorney General’s Office announced the suspension of this investigation, determining that Infantino had been able to demonstrate that the trip from Suriname «had been in accordance with FIFA’s expense regulations for senior officials.» In August 2020, FIFA’s own Ethics Committee closed this case «for lack of credible evidence.»