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Gianni Infantino has succeeded Sepp Blatter as president of FIFA, after winning Friday’s election in Zurich, reports Sportsmo.com.
The 45-year-old lawyer and sports administrator, who was UEFA general secretary, became FIFA’s first new president.
After no candidate earned the required two-thirds majority of votes in the initial voting process, the vote went for 2nd round and Gianni was elected in the second round of voting with 115 of the 207 votes from FIFA’s national associations, defeating Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, who had 88.
Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan got 4 votes, and Jerome Champagne of France had none.
In his acceptance speech, Gianni said, “We will restore the image of FIFA and everyone will applaud us”.
In the first ballot, Infantino led the pack with 88 votes, followed by Sheikh Salman with 85, Prince Ali with 27 and Champagne with 7.
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In the second round of voting, only a simple majority was needed to win the election, and voters were allowed to change their selections.
Like Blatter, Gianni is also from the Valais region in the Swiss Alps.
During his campaign, he promised more of key FIFA gifts to member federations: more guaranteed funding from FIFA’s $5 billion-plus World Cup revenue, more places in an expanded 40-team tournament and more opportunities to stage the World Cup with multi-national regional hosting.
In one of his campaign, Gianni spoke in five different languages for over a minute without notes, portraying himself as a leader for the world.
Before the election of FIFA President, the members approved a proposal for reforms that will address issues of FIFA Contender-Sheikh Salman of governance, accountability, transparency and diversity.
Results of 2nd ballot: Gianni Infantino: 115 votes, Sheikh Salman: 88 votes, Prince Ali: 4 votes, and zero votes for Jérôme Champagne.
