Gianni Infantino

Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino (born 23 March 1970) is a Swiss-Italian football administrator and the president of FIFA since February 2016.

Infantino was born on 23 March 1970 in Brig, Switzerland.

He is a son of Italian immigrant parents from Calabria and Lombardy in Switzerland and has the citizenship of both countries.

He studied law at the University of Fribourg.

He speaks French, German and Italian as his first languages, and also speaks Arabic, English, Portuguese and Spanish.

Infantino worked as the Secretary General of the International Center for Sports Studies (CIES) at the University of Neuchâtel.

In Iran, after the 1979 Islamic revolution, women had been banned from stadiums when men's teams are playing.

Infantino repeatedly warned Iranian football federation and Islamic Republic of Iran authorities about Iranian women's rights.

Infantino started working with UEFA in August 2000 and was appointed as the Director of UEFA's Legal Affairs and Club Licensing Division in January 2004.

He became Deputy General Secretary of UEFA in 2007 and Secretary General of UEFA in October 2009.

During his time there, UEFA introduced Financial Fair Play and improved commercial support to smaller national associations.

In 2015, the Greek government decided to introduce a new sports law in response to the recent scandal and acts of violence and corruption mainly in Greek football.

Gianni Infantino, as UEFA's general secretary, led the negotiations with the Greek government and supported the Hellenic Football Federation's warning to Greece that it faced suspension from international football for government interference.

Infantino was a member of FIFA's Reform Committee.

On 26 October 2015, he received the backing of the UEFA Executive Committee to stand for the position of president in the 2016 FIFA Extraordinary Congress.

On the same day, he confirmed his candidacy and submitted the required declarations of support.

He promised to expand the FIFA World Cup to forty teams.

He oversaw the expansion of UEFA Euro 2016 to 24 teams and played a role in the conception of the UEFA Nations League and the UEFA Euro 2020, which was intended to take place in 13 European nations before the number was reduced to 11.

On 26 February 2016, he was elected FIFA President for a period of three years.

Infantino, who holds dual Swiss and Italian citizenship through his parents, became the first Italian to hold the Presidency of FIFA.

Infantino was implicated in the FIFA corruption scandal in documents released in the 2016 Panama Papers.

They show that UEFA undertook deals with indicted figures where previously they had denied any relationship.

Infantino has stated he is "dismayed" at the reports and that he has never personally dealt with the parties involved.

In 2017, Infantino criticized the United States travel ban on several Muslim-majority nations.

He said "When it comes to FIFA competitions, any team, including the supporters and officials of that team, who qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup. That is obvious."

As President of FIFA, he oversaw the 2018 World Cup in Russia, which he described as "the best World Cup ever" and for which he accepted Order of Friendship medal given to him by Vladimir Putin.

He oversaw the 2022 World Cup in Qatar during which time he defended or minimized controversies surrounding Qatar's human rights record.

Infantino also described the 2022 World Cup as "the best World Cup ever."

He played a key role in the selection of Saudi Arabia as host of the 2034 World Cup, as he advocated for a Saudi bid and restricted the hosting eligibility, which reduced the number of potential competing bids.

He described the 2018 World Cup as the "best World Cup ever."

He was re-elected in June 2019 and in March 2023.

In 2019 Infantino accepted the Order of Friendship medal given to him by Vladimir Putin, following the 2018 World Cup.

On 8 September 2019, Sahar Khodayari self-immolated after being arrested for trying to enter a stadium.

Our position is clear and firm.

Women have to be allowed into football stadiums in Iran.

Now is the moment to change things.

Infantino, September 2019

Following that incident, FIFA assured Iranian women that they would be able to attend stadiums starting from October 2019.

On 10 October 2019, more than 3,500 women attended the Azadi Stadium for a World Cup qualifier against Cambodia.

In January 2020, he was also elected a member of the International Olympic Committee.