Gianni Infantino

Giovanni Vincenzo "Gianni" Infantino is a Swiss football administrator who has served as the president of FIFA since 2016. He was previously Secretary General of UEFA from 2009 to 2016, where he formalised the body's financial regulations and oversaw tournament expansion, such as the UEFA Nations League. He has since been an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member since 2020.

Overview§

Giovanni Vincenzo "Gianni" Infantino (born 23 March 1970) is a Swiss football administrator who has served as the president of FIFA since 2016. He was previously Secretary General of UEFA from 2009 to 2016, where he formalised the body's financial regulations and oversaw tournament expansion, such as the UEFA Nations League. He has since been an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member since 2020. As president of FIFA, Infantino has overseen three World Cups: the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and the 2026 World Cup in North America. He re-launched the FIFA Club World Cup in 2022 to incorporate 32 clubs and introduced the FIFA Series in 2024 to supplement international friendlies. His tenure has seen a substantial commercial expansion, technological development and growth in international football. Infantino's career has generated controversy over his leadership directives, financial contracts and public statements at both UEFA and FIFA.

Early life and education§

Infantino was born on 23 March 1970 in Brig, Switzerland. He is a son of immigrant parents from the Italian regions of Calabria and Lombardy. He studied law at the University of Fribourg. Infantino started his management career as the Secretary General of the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) at the University of Neuchâtel during the late-1990s to 2000.

Career at UEFA§

Infantino started working with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) in August 2000 and was appointed as the Director of UEFA's Legal Affairs and Club Licensing Division in January 2004. The Panama Papers indicated that, while a senior legal official at UEFA, he had co-signed a television-rights contract with a company later linked to defendants in the United States investigation into FIFA corruption, a relationship UEFA had previously denied. Infantino said that he was "dismayed" by the reports and stated that he had never personally dealt with the indicted parties. He became Deputy General Secretary of UEFA in 2007 and Secretary General of UEFA in October 2009. During his time there, UEFA introduced Financial Fair Play and improved commercial support to smaller national associations. Infantino oversaw the expansion of UEFA Euro 2016 to 24 teams and played a role in the conception of the UEFA Nations League and the UEFA Euro 2020, which was intended to take place in 13 European nations before the number was reduced to 11. In 2015, the Greek government decided to introduce a new sports law in response to a scandal and acts of violence and corruption, mainly in Greek football. Infantino, as UEFA's general secretary, led the negotiations with the Greek government and supported the Hellenic Football Federation's warning to Greece that it faced suspension from international football for interference.

2015–2017§

Alongside his career at UEFA, Infantino was a member of FIFA's Reform Committee. He gained the backing of the UEFA Executive Committee to stand for the position of president in the 2016 FIFA Extraordinary Congress in 2015. On the same day, he confirmed his candidacy and submitted the required declarations of support. He promised to expand the FIFA World Cup to forty teams.

On 26 February 2016, he was elected FIFA President for a period of three years. Infantino, dual Swiss-Italian citizen at the time, became the first Italian to hold the Presidency of FIFA. In July 2016, the investigatory chamber of FIFA's ethics committee opened an examination into whether Infantino had breached the FIFA Code of Ethics. The chamber concluded that no violation had occurred. Infantino was the subject of criminal proceedings in Switzerland concerning undisclosed meetings he held with the Attorney General of Switzerland, Michael Lauber, and the Valais prosecutor Rinaldo Arnold in 2016 and 2017, while Lauber's office was investigating corruption in international football. Infantino dismissed the independent chairmen of FIFA's Ethics Committee, Cornel Borbély and Hans-Joachim Eckert, while they were reportedly investigating his conduct in May 2017.

2018–2019§

In 2018, Infantino criticised the United States' travel ban on several Muslim-majority nations. He said, "When it comes to FIFA competitions, any team, including the supporters and officials of that team, who qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup. That is obvious." Further in 2018, documents leaked to Der Spiegel revealed Infantino secretly intervened to rewrite FIFA's code of ethics, restricting preliminary investigations and instituting a 10-year statute of limitations on historical corruption. He was re-elected as FIFA President during the 69th FIFA Congress on 5 June 2019 as the only candidate. In July 2019, Infantino expanded the FIFA Women's World Cup from 24 to 32 teams, starting with the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, and doubling the tournament's prize money after the success of the 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cups, which after increasing from 16 to 24 teams set an attendance record for all non World Cup FIFA competitions.. Yet, Infantino faced severe backlash both at the 2019 Women's World Cup over unequal prize money that prompted stadium-wide chants of "Equal pay!," and later ahead of the 2023 tournament due to his remarks telling women to "pick the right battles" and "convince us men" to achieve equality. Infantino repeatedly warned the Iranian Football Federation and Islamic Republic of Iran authorities around Iranian women's rights. Infantino stated: "Our position is clear and firm in September 2019. Women have to be allowed into football stadiums in Iran. Now is the moment to change things."

2020–2024§

Infantino unsuccessfully lobbied for a biennial World Cup in 2021, but retreated in March 2022 after fierce opposition from UEFA and leading domestic leagues over player welfare and financial concerns. After the announcement of the European Super League, Infantino condemned the proposal during an address at the 2021 UEFA Congress. Referring to both the breakaway competition and the participating clubs' intention to remain in their domestic leagues, he stated: "If some elect to go their own way then they must live with the consequences of their choice, they are responsible for their choice. Concretely this means, either you are in, or you are out." In 2022, Infantino expanded FIFA's Club World Cup from a seven-team annual event to a quadrennial, 32-team tournament with a $1 billion prize pool and a new trophy on which Infantino's name is engraved twice, describing him as the competition's "founding president." In 2023, the FIFA Council ruled Infantino's first three years in office did not count towards the 12-year term limit, legally allowing him to remain president until 2031. A 2024 human rights report by FairSquare criticised Infantino for operating a "system of patronage" that reversed 2016 anti-corruption governance reforms, specifically by expanding the number of standing committees from nine to 35.

2025–2027§

On 5 March 2025 during a FIFA Council meeting, Infantino stated that the FIFA Women's World Cup would be expanded to 48 teams. Infantino emphasised that the expansion would help more FIFA members develop their women's programs as a result of tournament participation.

During the European Football Clubs general assembly on 9 October 2025, Infantino reportedly told the delegates to "keep an open mind" around scheduling the FIFA World Cup, which has traditionally been held during European summer during June to August, to winter months stating that limiting the tournament's scheduling would prevent the globalisation of football as the current scheduling is too hot to play in some countries.In November 2025, Infantino introduced the FIFA Peace Prize, with U.S. President Donald Trump receiving the inaugural award in Washington, D.C. in December 2025. The award and its recipient drew criticism, given that Trump expressed dismay for not being awarded that year's Nobel Peace Prize. Later in 2026, reports stated that Trump was considering Infantino as his preferred candidate for the position of United Nations Secretary-General. In June 2026, the former UEFA president Michel Platini filed a criminal complaint in France against FIFA and Infantino, alleging influence-peddling to prevent Platini from succeeding Sepp Blatter as FIFA president. Under Infantino, FIFA's revenues have more than doubled; for the 2027–2030 cycle the organisation is projected to generate $14 billion, of which $2.7 billion, or around 20%, is to be redistributed to national associations through the FIFA Forward development programme. The number of FIFA members has grown from seven to thirty-five under Infantino. From 2016 to 2026, Infantino quadrupled grants to member associations. In 2026, in an effort to raise $4.2 billion in development grants, Infantino proposed plans to sell a minority stake of FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), a proposed event management company – frequently labeled as "stake in the World Cup" – to private investors. The Times reported that Infantino could become FFE's commissioner after his FIFA presidency ends in 2031, with compensation potentially comparable to the reported annual salary of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, estimated at around $64 million. Infantino's proposal was ultimately discontinued after opposition and boycott threats from multiple football associations. The proposed FFE prompted an emergency governance meeting in Morocco over Infantino's leadership of FIFA and his planned 2027 re-election bid. Infantino travelled to Colombia as part of efforts to strengthen support for his re-election campaign and secure backing from FIFA member associations in the region.

Tournaments§

Infantino described the 2018 FIFA World Cup as the "best World Cup ever", despite the controversial host selection of Russia. When questioned around abuses suffered by migrant workers involved in preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Infantino said that migrant workers were given work and pay and were proud to contribute to constructing the stadiums. Infantino also charged Western countries with "hypocrisy" for criticising Qatar on moral grounds in relation to issues regarding human rights related to migrant workers, LGBTQ individuals, and women. In a hour-long monologue, he told reporters: "What we Europeans have been doing for the last 3,000 years, we should be apologising for the next 3,000 years before starting to give moral lessons." Before the 2022 World Cup, Infantino defended Qatar's human rights record in a heavily criticised speech, stating "Today I feel Qatari... Today I feel gay... Today I feel a migrant worker." Simultaneously, FIFA threatened yellow cards against European captains wearing the pro-LGBTQ+ "OneLove" armband. Infantino has faced criticism for his extensive use of a private jet provided by Qatar during the tournament, emitting an estimated 300–500 metric tons (300–490 long tons; 330–550 short tons) of carbon dioxide.

In July 2026, it was reported that U.S. President Donald Trump had controversially called Infantino and asked FIFA to review the red card issued to United States forward Folarin Balogun during the match between United States and Bosnia and Herzegovina. FIFA later suspended Balogun's automatic one-match ban but Infantino denied there was political interference, stating the disciplinary committee was fully independent. Infantino had unexpectedly sped up the bid process for the 2030 FIFA World Cup to effectively ensure that the two bids for 2030 and 2034 would effectively be single bids for Spain, Portugal, Morocco (along with centennial celebration matches in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay) — and Saudi Arabia. Infantino supported expanding this World Cup to 64 teams, arguing that smaller nations should have more opportunities to participate. La Liga president Javier Tebas publicly called for Infantino's resignation, accusing him of "destroying the football industry" through the continual expansion of international tournaments at the expense of domestic leagues in July 2026. In line with a long-standing relationship with the Saudi regime, Infantino announced that Saudi Arabia would host the 2034 FIFA World Cup. He had urged the AFC to fully support and unite around the Saudi bid, discouraging other AFC members from submitting their own bids. The process was criticised by human-rights organisations and figures within football, and commentators noted that it coincided with Saudi-linked financing of Infantino's expanded Club World Cup.

Management style§

According to The New Yorker, former colleagues have described Infantino as maintaining tight personal control over FIFA; one former council member said "he decides everything by himself." Infantino's Instagram account, with 4.2 million followers and a restricted comments section, functions as FIFA's principal public-messaging channel. He has described FIFA as "the official happiness provider to humanity". In a 887-word statement in 2026, Infantino criticised sports journalism in world football calling critics of his FIFA tenure "hypocritical" and counter-productive.

Personal life§

Infantino is married to Leena Al Ashqar from Lebanon through whom he holds Lebanese citizenship. The couple have four children. Infantino speaks French, German and Italian as mother tongues and also speaks Arabic, English, Portuguese and Spanish. He has spent time in Doha, Qatar, where he rents a house and where two of his children attend school since October 2021. He moved his official residency to Zug, Switzerland in June 2022.

Honours§

Bolivia: Grand Cross of the Order of the Condor of the Andes (2016) Colombia: Officer of the Order of Boyacá (2022) Congo: Commander of the Congolese Order of Merit (2019) Indonesia: First Class of the Order of the Star of Service (2023) Kosovo: Presidential Medal of Merit (2025) Mongolia: Friendship Medal (2026) Niger: Commander of the Order of Merit of Niger (2017) Russia: Medal of the Order of Friendship (2018) Uzbekistan: Medal of the Order of Doʻstlik (2025)

Distinctions§

Asian Football Confederation: Diamond of Asia (2023) Bolivian Football Federation: Grand Gold Medal of Merit (2025) CONMEBOL: South American Football Order of Merit (2024) Italian National Olympic Committee: Gold Collar for Sports Merit (2017) National Olympic Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic: Gold Order (2023)