Infantino faces no opposition in bid for FIFA presidency

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has been widely expected to win a second term unopposed Keystone

Incumbent FIFA President Gianni Infantino will not face a challenger in June's election to head world soccer's governing body, the Zurich-based organisation said on Wednesday. 

“Following the call for election issued by the FIFA Council on 10 June 2018, FIFA’s member associations have proposed, in due time and form, the following candidate for the presidential election to take place at the 69th FIFA Congress in Paris on 5 June 2019: Mr Gianni Infantino,” it said in a statement. 

The 48-year-old Swiss lawyer had received the required nomination letters from five of the 211 member federations when the deadline passed at midnight on Tuesday in Zurich, FIFA said. He must now pass eligibility and integrity checks for the election on June 5 in Paris. 

Infantino has been widely expected to win unopposed with support already pledged by most FIFA members, including continental governing bodies such as North America’s CONCACAF and South America’s CONMEBOL. 

Former Swiss international and Tottenham Hotspur defender Ramon Vega, who now works in finance, had announced his plans to run against Infantino. But he was unable to obtain the necessary support from member associations. 

Since his election in February 2016, replacing the banned Sepp Blatter, Infantino has overseen the expansion of the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams in 2026, and selected the United States, Canada and Mexico to co-host the event. Infantino is also behind a controversial project to expand the FIFA Club World Cup from seven to 24 teams from 2021.

Infantino owed his candidacy to the fact that Europe’s preferred candidate, his former boss and UEFA president Michel Platini, was banned from football along with Blatter for ethics violations. Both men have denied wrongdoing.