Gianni Infantino will serve a second term as FIFA President, after being re-elected unopposed to lead global football’s governing body for another four years.
He was re-elected during the 73rd FIFA Congress in Kigali, Rwanda.
A UAE delegation including Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, the Chairman of the UAE Football Association, Youssef Hussein Al-Sahlawi, the Second Deputy Chairman, and Mohamed Abdullah Al-Dhaheri, Secretary-General of UAEFA, attended the FIFA Congress.
Speaking immediately after the re-election to serve from 2023 to 2027, President Infantino said: “Being FIFA President is an incredible honour, an incredible privilege, and it is also a great responsibility. I am truly humbled and touched by your support, and I promise you that I will continue serving FIFA, serving football all over the world and serving all 211 FIFA member associations.”
For the first time in its history, an elective FIFA Congress took place in Africa.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who welcomed delegates from the 208 gathered member associations to his country, also congratulated President Infantino on his re-election.
The FIFA President, while stressing the body’s role in developing football around the world, said the 32-team FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand later this year will receive an extensive increase in prize money to over $150 million, more than three times the value from the last tournament in 2019.
Infantino also referenced impending changes to the FIFA Under-17 World Cups at boys’ and girls’ level, which will see those tournaments played on an annual basis, as well as the launch of the FIFA World Series and the revised 32-team FIFA Club World Cup, with the intention of giving teams from every confederation more opportunities to compete on the global stage.
For the next financial cycle, the commitment of $11 billion in revenue over the next four years is earmarked by the sports body, a substantial increase from the $7.5 billion from the previous cycle.
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