Gianni Infantino has been FIFA President since February 2016. He could be re-elected on Thursday.Bild: Getty Images Europe / Soccrates Images
Analyse
Gianni Infantino is arguably one of the most talked about people in international football. Around last winter’s World Cup, his proximity to Qatar was a major target. This is linked to the criticism that FIFA has placed too little value on human rights in Qatar.
Also its proximity to Wladimir Putin or Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is responsible for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, is causing outrage. Swiss prosecutors are still investigating abuse of power, treason and accepting benefits against the 52-year-old.
No Infantino support from Norway
The announcement by Norway’s football association president Lise Klaveness before the Fifa congress in Kigali (Rwanda) is therefore not really surprising. Compared to the “Sportschau” she says clearly: “We will not vote for him.”
Because this Thursday is the election of a new Fifa President. There will be no surprise. Infantino is the only one who stood for election. The Swiss will therefore be happy about his next term and will be in charge of the fate of the world football association until at least 2027 – despite great criticism. Especially within Europe.
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But here lies the peculiarity of this choice. The criticism comes almost exclusively from Europe. So far, only the European Football Association (Uefa) and North America, Central America and the Caribbean (Concacaf) have not publicly spoken out in favor of Infantino. Asia, Africa, Oceania and South America are unanimous behind Infantino.
“I can assure you that we are united behind his candidacy,” said Asia’s head of the Association (AFC) Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa. As a result, Infantino can be sure of the 46 votes of the AFC. There are also 54 voices from Africa, ten from South America and eleven from Oceania. That means he already has 121 of the 211 votes for sure.
Additional voices will be added from the North American and European associations. Only a handful of associations see themselves in opposition to Infantino. Norwegian federation leader Lise Klaveness was one of the few to openly say she won’t vote for Infantino. After initially hesitating, the German Football Association (DFB) told President Bernd Neuendorf on Wednesday that the association would not support the Fifa boss.
“In the past few weeks we have received little or no information from FIFA on various issues. FIFA needs to be much more open and transparent in its dealings with the national associations.”
Sweden and Denmark will also not support Infantino. However, they do not send an opposing candidate on the ballot into the race. Since he wouldn’t have a chance, it would be “pointless,” according to Neuendorf.
Infantino election by applause possible
If voted at all by ballot. Since Infantino is the only candidate, the Fifa statutes also allow an election by acclamation, i.e. by applause. He was confirmed in office in 2019.
What is special about the Fifa election system is not so much the voting by applause, but much more the distribution of votes. The DFB, with around 24,000 clubs and seven million members, has one vote. The Football Association of the Caribbean island of Aruba has just as many.
DFB President Bernd Neuendorf has as many votes in the election for Fifa President as Aruba President.Image: dpa / Britta Pedersen
The island has about 100,000 inhabitants. 2,500 of them play soccer, as Egbert Lacle, President of the Aruba Soccer Association, told the Deutschlandfunk podcast “Players”. “You can compare it to a small town in Germany. Just that we’re FIFA members and we have a national team, so we have a lot of responsibility,” Lacle said.
He will choose Infantino for one reason in particular: the Swiss guarantees Lacle money for his football association. The official explains in more detail: “As a small football nation, we don’t have a big market, unlike Germany. Both in terms of players and economically. We are 90 percent dependent on Fifa funds.”
According to Lacle, the Aruba Football Association received $4.6 million from Fifa between 2019 and 2022. A huge sum for the small association, which could increase in Infantino’s upcoming tenure. The Swiss would like to further increase the payments to the national associations.
“Fifa’s money is your money. It’s not the Fifa President’s money. It’s your money.”
Gianni Infantino during his application speech in 2016
Infantino had already announced this in his application speech in 2016. “Fifa’s money is your money. It’s not the Fifa President’s money. It’s your money. You are the national associations and Fifa’s money must be used for the development of football and nothing else,” he announced at the time .
At least he kept this promise to the members. Between 2016 and 2018, the world association distributed 1.07 billion US dollars to the 211 national associations. Between 2019 and 2022 it was already 1.747 billion US dollars. For the coming period from 2023 to the 2026 World Cup in Canada, the USA and Mexico, it should even be 2.3 billion US dollars.
Lacle is trying to refute the accusation that Infantino is buying the approval of the small Fifa members through the contributions to the national associations. He explains on Deutschlandfunk: “Of course it increases the support, but Fifa has tightened the guidelines so that we get the support.”
Accordingly, Aruba could have received around 2.4 million US dollars more, but had not registered sufficient infrastructure projects.
Klaveness criticizes unfulfilled promises
Infantino kept his money promise, but not many others. At least when it comes to the head of the Norwegian association, Klaveness. Compared to the sports show, she specified what she had expected from Infantino: “When he was elected, he was very clear: Transparency should be improved, human rights lines should be implemented, distance to states should be maintained.”
Especially with regard to the proximity to Qatar, Saudi Arabia or Russia, these goals can be regarded as missed. Klaveness therefore also concludes: “We believe he missed many opportunities to really implement the changes he was elected to make.”
What he has campaigned for, however, is clarification on the number of his terms of office. According to the statutes, a Fifa president may only hold his position for three full terms of four years each. He has been in office since 2016, but his likely re-election on Thursday only marks the beginning of his second term.
The explanation is relatively simple. The Fifa Council had already clarified in December that the period from 2016 to 2019 was not an official term of office. At that time he only took over for the resigned Joseph Blatter. Infantino could therefore also run in the next presidential election in 2027 and probably even lead Fifa until 2031 thanks to promises of even more money for the national associations.
“As long as I and Kalle Rummenigge have something to say here, (Lothar Matthäus) won’t even be a greenkeeper in the new stadium,” Uli Hoeneß railed against the ex-Bayern star in a DSF one-two. The saying is now legendary, but the argument from 2002 has long been forgotten.
