Re-elected as head of Fifa, Gianni Infantino prepares the expansion of the institution


A football World Cup with 104 matches from 2026, a planetary tournament of 32 clubs: re-elected Thursday for four years at the head of Fifa, the Italian-Swiss Gianni Infantino, in office since 2016, intends to inaugurate an era of all superlatives , inflating competition and income. “We need more, and not less, world competitions to develop football,” summed up the 52-year-old leader at the body’s 73rd Congress in Kigali, before being renewed by acclamation by the delegates of the 211 member federations, alone in the running as in its previous election in 2019.

If this system does not allow dissonant voices to be counted, the Norwegian, German and Swedish federations have each indicated that they have not supported it, Norway also demanding a death toll on the construction sites of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and their compensation, accepted by the authority. But the handful of rebellious states could not agree on a competing candidacy. And the former confidant of Michel Platini at UEFA (2009-2016), unexpectedly elected head of Fifa in February 2016 after a cascade of scandals, is guaranteed to remain at the top of world football at least until in 2027.

Redistributive power

If the statutes of the Zurich organization now provide for three terms of a maximum of four years, Infantino has already prepared the ground to stay until 2031, declaring in mid-December that he was “still in his first term”, since his 2016-2019 lease was incomplete. The horizon seems clear for the smooth-skinned lawyer, who again proclaimed on Thursday that he wanted to “make football truly global”, and poses as a bulwark against the sporting and economic hegemony of European football thanks to FIFA’s development programs , boosted by its growing revenues.

Like four years ago, it can show a solid financial balance sheet, with an 18% increase in income and 45% increase in reserves over the 2019-22 cycle compared to the previous one, which allows Fifa to further increase its subsidies to confederations and federations, which is the key to its redistributive system as well as to its electoral system. Because the organization grants the same amounts to Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Bermuda and Papua New Guinea as to Brazil or Germany, each of these federations also having a voice in Congress.

Soccer Fractures

As long as the president pleases the 35 associations of Central America or the 54 African federations, he can thus afford to offend the powerful European nations: by considering a biennial World Cup before giving it up last year, or by prohibiting a handful of selections from wearing an inclusive “One Love” armband during the Qatari World Cup, to proclaim their attachment to LGBT rights.

On the governance side, his last mandate was marked by a vast reform of transfers, by the institution of maternity leave for professional players as well as by more protective rules of disciplinary procedure for victims of sexual violence. The main projects for the next few years have already been approved: starting with the passage of the Women’s World Cup from 24 to 32 teams this year, with an allocation increased by 300% to 150 million dollars, and the World Cup male from 32 to 48 teams from the 2026 edition, shared between the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Expanded Club World Cup

In addition, FIFA decided on December 16 to expand its Club World Cup from an annual seven-team format to a quadrennial competition with 32 teams from the summer of 2025. A project that its boss has been trying to bring to fruition since years to compete in the lucrative UEFA Champions League.

But this race for expansion could well awaken the fractures of football: Wednesday evening the World League Forum (WLF), bringing together around forty championships, denounced decisions “without consultation”, which further weigh down “an already overloaded calendar, and take no account of the impact on the competitiveness of domestic leagues and the health of players”. The WLF, like its European League counterpart bringing together the European championships, will “decide” on the “most appropriate” responses, leaving the threat of a legal response hanging over.



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