Gianni Infantino elected as President of FIFA

Gianni Infantino (45) of Switzerland has been elected as new President of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), a global governing body of football.
He was declared winner after winning a second-round vote by securing 115 of the 207 eligible votes in the 2016 FIFA Extraordinary Congress held in Zurich, Switzerland.
He defeated Sheikh Salman of Bahrain who got 88 votes followed by Prince Ali of Jordan had four and Jerome Champagne of France got zero votes.
With this victory, Infantino becomes just the third President of FIFA after Sepp Blatter who headed it for 40 years from 1974 to 2015 and his predecessor João Havelange.

About Gianni Infantino

• Born on 23 March 1970 in Brig, Canton of Valais, Switzerland. Holds Swiss and Italian nationality.
• Prior to becoming FIFA President, he was General Secretary of UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) since 2009 and was associtated with it for past 15 years.
• Prior to joining UEFA, Infantino had worked as the Secretary General of the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) at the University of Neuchâtel.
• He also had worked as an adviser to a variety of football bodies in Italy, Spain and Switzerland.

About Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)

• FIFA in English International Federation of Association Football is the governing body of association football, futsal and beach football.
• Established:
• Headquarters: Zürich, Switzerland.
• Membership: Currently comprises 209 national associations from six regional confederations viz. Africa, Asia, Europe, North & Central America and Caribbean, Oceania and South America.
• FIFA is responsible for the organisation of football’s major international tournaments and their promotion notably the World Cup and the Women’s World Cup.
• Note: FIFA does not control the rules of football and it is the responsibility of the International Football Association Board.

Month: Current Affairs - February, 2016