Infantino elected as new President of Federation Internationale de Football Association

Blatter, who had led FIFA since 1998, stood down last year and was later banned from football for six years for breaching ethics guidelines.

Last night, FIFA’s executive committee appeared to send conflicting messages when it approved sweeping reforms to the world’s football governing body, but also voted in an unlikely new president.

And Infantino secured 115 votes to Sheikh Salman’s 88 to become the second successive Swiss president, after Sepp Blatter. South African hopeful Tokyo Sexwale had withdrawn after the candidate speeches. “I told you I went through a journey, an exceptional journey, a journey which made me meet a lot of fantastic people, who love football and breathe football and live football every day”.

The Congress comes before IFAB, world football’s law-makers, meet in Cardiff on 4-6 March with FIFA and The FA will be represented along with the Football Association of Wales, as hosts, the Irish Football Association and the Scottish Football Association.

The reforms address issues of governance, accountability, transparency and diversity and were devised after the worst crisis in Fifa’s 112-year history with officials past and present caught up in corruption inquiries being conducted in the United States and Switzerland.

“Five months ago, I was not thinking to be a candidate, I was not thinking of being in front of you today”, Infantino said in his remarks before the election. His task now is to restore the reputation of world football’s governing body that has been plagued by a corruption scandal.

The Swiss-Italian national was seen as the European candidate and faced a strong election challenge from the head of Asian football, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, who had solid backing from Africa.

The Kuwaiti added: “However, under the new leadership of President Infantino…I believe we have established a foundation from which we can drive forward and once again put the joy back into football”.

FIFA member associations convened in Zurich on Friday for its extraordinary Congress with the main aim of electing the organization’s new president and vote on the landmark reformations to the organization. To steer Fifa away from its power politics and give the game and its development primacy are priorities the new office-bearers must embrace if the federation is to get over the Blatter-Platini era. Prince Ali received four votes and no votes were recorded for Jerome Champagne. He isn’t, however, accused of committing human rights violations like the man he beat, Sheikh Salman.