Gianni Infantino has been re-elected unopposed at the Congress of world football's governing body in Paris on Wednesday.
Gianni Infantino - who was picked to lead FIFA out of the biggest crisis in the soccer governing body’s history - was re-elected unopposed at the Congress of world football's governing body in Paris on Wednesday.
Infantino claims to have turned the organisation from being "toxic and almost criminal" back to its core values. After succeeding Sepp Blatter, he has been in charge of FIFA since February 2016.
The 49-year-old Swiss-Italian lawyer now has a four-year mandate to try and accomplish his grandiose plans for football which were partly frustrated in his first term.
"Nobody talks about the crisis at FIFA any more or rebuilding it from scratch. Nobody talks about scandals or corruption, we talk about football. We can say that we've turned the situation around," he told the Congress in a lengthy speech at the Paris Expo.
"This organisation has gone from being toxic, almost criminal, to being what it should be -- an organisation that develops football and is now synonymous with transparency, integrity."
"Today everything is open and transparent. It is not possible at FIFA to make hidden payments of doing anything unethical with our money. There is no more place for corruption," he claimed.
Infantino also said that FIFA's budget has increased from $5 billion to $6.4bn and reserves up from $1bn to $2.75bn. This is despite the increased spending on development projects in FIFA's 211 member associations.
While at the meet, Infantino also shared the 11 areas of progress during his tenure. From financial health, women's development, the fight against racism and a scandal-free 2026 World Cup bidding process - all these are achievements but the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system has been his major triumph.
"It's the biggest success story. It has become an integral part of football inside one year. It doesn't change the game, but it helps and cleans the game. It brings justice to the game. It's not perfect but it’s very close to perfection," he said.
Infantino also promoted the new-look 24-team Club World Cup, which starts in two years' time. It is, however, under threat of a boycott from Europe's top clubs due to concerns over fixture congestion.
"We know that clubs are the heartbeat of the game, they train the players. We need to offer clubs a chance to shine on a world stage and to challenge for a World Cup," he added.
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