Platini prodigy Infantino takes centre stage in FIFA battle
Gianni Infantino made his name as UEFA’s master of ceremonies until
scandal forced his boss Michel Platini out of the race for the FIFA
presidency.
The shaven-headed Swiss-Italian lawyer is in a close fight with
Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa and three other candidates for the
leadership of world football to be decided on Friday.
Since becoming UEFA general secretary in 2009, the 45-year-old
Infantino has become best known to the football public as the man who
takes out the lottery balls when the draw is made for the Champions
League.
Behind the scenes he has also played a key role in giving the European confederation the financial power to rival FIFA.
He is very much a behind-the-scenes figure much valued by Europe’s
leading clubs who battle for Champions League honours and riches each
season.
Infantino was born in Brigue, less than 10 kilometers (six miles)
from Viege the home village of Sepp Blatter, the man he now wants to
replace at FIFA.
But his rise would not have come without Platini’s downfall over a
suspect 2 million Swiss francs (1.8 million euros, $2 million) payment
that Blatter approved to the Frenchman in 2011. Platini is currently
appealing against an eight year ban imposed by FIFA.
Infantino had said he would stand aside if his boss won an appeal.
But now he is the the main rival to Sheikh Salman for the FIFA top post.
“I am not looking for power,” he told the Swiss newspaper Le Matin at
the weekend. “A few months ago, I was not even thinking about launching
into this adventure.
“But football is going through a difficult period and some people now have to take their responsibility.”
Infantino is multilingual, speaking English, German, French, Spanish
and Italian. He is also a workaholic trusted by the big clubs who were
Platini’s major backers.
Infantino is “someone that Platini could trust to reform and improve
UEFA’s administration”, said a representative of a major club, speaking
on condition of anonymity.
The Platini camp is now annoyed by the ambitions of the Frenchman’s
former right-hand man who has come out of the shadows with an ambitious
plan for FIFA.
Infantino has proposed increasing the 32-team World Cup to 40
countries. FIFA should consider allowing two or more countries to host
the event, he said.
Infantino also wants to give $5 million every four years to each
member association and $40 million to each of the six continental
confederations.
“He was named as a manager, but he knows how to do politics,” said one member of Platini’s entourage.
Infantino has Swiss and Italian nationality and is an Inter Milan supporter.
Former secretary general of the International Centre for Sports
Studies at the University of Neuchatel, Infantino joined UEFA in 2000 to
take charge of its legal and commercial affairs and gradually rose
through the ranks.
According to his UEFA CV, Infantino handled contacts with the European Union and governments as well as clubs.
He helped create UEFA’s financial fair play rules that have aimed to
rein in profligate clubs by stopping them spending more than they earn.
Prince Ali bin al Hussein of Jordan, Jerome Champagne, a former FIFA
deputy secretary general from France and South African tycoon Tokyo
Sexwale are also in the election.