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FIFA President Gianni Infantino will stand unopposed to be re-elected for a third term in the post.
The 52-year-old Swiss-Italian became head of football’s governing body when he succeeded Sepp Blatter in February 2016, and was re-elected in 2019.
FIFA said the 52-year-old Swiss lawyer was the only person to enter the race by the time the deadline passed – exactly four months before election day on March 16 in Kigali, Rwanda.
Infantino won a five-candidate race in 2016 to replace Sepp Blatter, and was re-elected unopposed in 2019. He is now set to stay in the job beyond the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
FIFA rules also permit Infantino to run for a final time in 2026, which would mean he would stay in power for another World Cup cycle until 2031.
A quirk of FIFA’s statutes means the first three years of Infantino’s presidency – when he completed an unfinished term started by Blatter – does not count against the 12-year limit agreed to in reforms passed during a prolonged corruption crisis before his first election.
One political threat to Infantino’s leadership is an investigation by two special prosecutors in Switzerland into his three undocumented meetings with then-attorney general Michael Lauber in 2016 and 2017, during American and Swiss federal investigations of football officials.
It is currently unclear how that case, which is being overseen by the Swiss parliament, is proceeding or how much jurisdiction it has over Infantino as a private citizen. He has denied all wrongdoing.
Infantino still needs to pass an integrity and eligibility check carried out by a FIFA-appointed review panel chaired by a judge from India, Mukul Mudgal.
Europe and South America will field competing bids to host the 2030 World Cup, which is set for a vote by FIFA members in 2024.
Ukraine was added in October to the co-hosting bid by Spain and Portugal, while 1930 host Uruguay is part of a centenary celebration bid with Argentina, Chile and Paraguay.
FIFA said that “following the call for election” in March 2022, its member associations had only proposed Infantino as a candidate.
He will be re-elected at the 73rd FIFA Congress in Kigali, Rwanda on 16 March.
Blatter was FIFA president for 17 years until he was banned amid a corruption scandal in 2015.
