It only took two rounds of voting for a new FIFA president to be named on Friday in Zurich, Switzerland.
Gianni Infantino, who has served as the general secretary of UEFA, was the frontrunner after the first round of voting, leading the pack with 88 votes. Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa was next with 85, with Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan and former FIFA Executive Jerome Champagne coming in with 27 and seven, respectively.
With Infantino not securing the 138 votes necessary to win in the first round, a second round commenced, with the win being determined by a simple majority. He came in with 115 votes, with Salman earning 88 votes in the second round.
Infantino is set to replace Sepp Blatter, who is currently serving a ban which was reduced earlier this week from eight years to six years as a result of a growing corruption scandal surrounding the organization.
In addition to the election, FIFA approved a reform package which will increase transparency, introduce term limits and help to boost the growth of women's soccer around the globe.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber joined the U.S. Soccer delegation in Switzerland for the vote, casting his own ballot for the first time among a group he described as "diverse." It was confirmed that the U.S. Soccer delegation supported Infantino in the second round of voting.
The reform package was approved by a vote of 179 to 22.
Here is a summary of the approved reforms (courtesy of FIFA.com):
- Clear separation between “political” and management functions: The FIFA Council (replacing the FIFA Executive Committee) is responsible for setting the organisation’s overall strategic direction, while the General Secretariat oversees the operational and commercial actions required to effectively execute that strategy.
- Term limits for the FIFA President, FIFA Council members and members of the Audit and Compliance Committee and of the judicial bodies (max. 12 years).
- Election of Council members supervised by FIFA and in accordance with FIFA’s own electoral regulations; all candidates subject to comprehensive eligibility and integrity checks conducted by an independent FIFA Review Committee.
- Greater recognition and promotion of women in football with a minimum of one female representative elected as a Council member per confederation; promotion of women as an explicit statutory objective of FIFA to create a more diverse decision-making environment and culture.
- Disclosure of individual compensation on an annual basis of the FIFA President, all FIFA Council members, the Secretary General and relevant chairpersons of independent standing and judicial committees.
- Enhanced control of money flows.
- Universal good governance principles for confederations and member associations.
- FIFA’s commitment to human rights to be enshrined in the FIFA Statutes.
- New Football Stakeholder Committee to ensure greater transparency and inclusion through broader stakeholder representation (including players, clubs and leagues).
