Written by Arkangel Tembo
Blantyre, February 29, 2016: Gianni Infantino was elected president of FIFA, putting him at the top of the soccer’s global governing body as it tries to emerge from a sweeping corruption scandal.
European soccer’s top administrator got 115 votes in the second round of balloting at Zurich’s Hallenstadion, beating Bahrain’s Sheikh Salman al Khalifa.
The first new president since Joseph ‘Sepp’ Blatter took office in 1988, Infantino will help set priorities for one of the sport’s most powerful bodies and oversee the World Cup. He takes office immediately.
Infantino, 45, was not originally considered among the top candidates. He entered the race as a placeholder while his boss at UEFA, Michel Platini, appealed on his ban from FIFA. (After Swissprosecutors opened a probe into unauthorized payment from Blatter to Platini, FIFA ousted the pair.) After it became clear that Platini would not be allowed in the race, Infantino’s campaign gathered steam.
In an earlier session, FIFA delegates approved changes aimed at preventing corruption by a vote of 179 to 22. They include a maximum 12-year term for senior officials, pay disclosures and a complete overhaul of the executive board, a group at the center of the majority of wrongdoing.
South Africa’s Tokyo Sexwale suspended his campaign Friday, leaving Infantino, Salman, Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein of Jordan and former Blatter aide Jerome Champagne.
Infantino, studied law at the University of Fribourg, a bilingual town that straddles the French- and German-speaking divide in Switzerland.
At a recent press conference, he answered legal questions in French, German, Italian, Spanish and English.
He ran the International Centre for Sports Studies at the University of Neuchatel before joining UEFA in 2000. He became director of UEFA’s legal affairs in 2004, before becoming secretary-general, the organization’s No. 2 job, in 2009.
It is not known who did Football Association of Malawi President, Walter Nyamilandu vote for as he kept his choice under wraps, when he left for Zurich.
Nyamilandu however said that FAM was pleased with election of Infantino and looked forward to working with him
Subscribe for Email Updates
{module 684}
