In March Gianni Infantino was re-elected unopposed as Fifa’s president to serve until 2027, having taken over from Sepp Blatter in 2016. “Those who love me, you are many, and the few who hate me, I love you all,” he said at Fifa Congress after confirmation he would continue in the role. Eligible to stand again, he could stay in post until 2031.
Frustrations with Fifa and Infantino fester in parts of the world on a variety of issues from inequities and inequalities in football to human rights abuses and the manipulated inevitability of a men’s World Cup in Saudi Arabia in 2034. Yet there is no viable alternative to him, given influence is so heavily concentrated in the hands of the federation’s president.
