PARIS: FIFA President Gianni Infantino, the sole candidate, was re-elected as the head of the world’s football governing body for the 2019-2023 term of office.

Infantino, who took charge of FIFA in February 2016 after the departure of the Sepp Blatter following a scandal, stood unopposed for re-election for a new four-year term which will run until 2023.

He has been in charge of FIFA since February 2016, after succeeding Sepp Blatter in the wake of a damaging corruption scandal that Infantino claimed the body had now shaken off.

“Nobody talks about the crisis at FIFA any more or rebuilding it from scratch. Nobody talks about scandals or corruption, we talk about football. We can say that we’ve turned the situation around,” he told the congress in a lengthy speech at the Paris Expo.

“This organization has gone from being toxic, almost criminal, to being what it should be — an organization that develops football and is now synonymous with transparency, integrity.”

“Today everything is open and transparent. It is not possible at FIFA to make hidden payments of doing anything unethical with our money. There is no more place for corruption,” he claimed.

Infantino said FIFA’s previously precarious financial situation was now looking rosy with the organization’s budget increased from $5 billion to $6.4bn and reserves up from $1bn to $2.75bn.

This was despite increased spending on development projects in FIFA’s 211 member associations. FIFA spent $1.1bn in the period 2015-18 and will increase the sum to $1.75bn from 2019-2022, he added.

“It’s the biggest success story. It has become an integral part of football inside one year. It doesn’t change the game, but it helps and cleans the game. It brings justice to the game. It’s not perfect, but it’s very close to perfection,” he said.

“We know that clubs are the heartbeat of the game, they train the players. We need to offer clubs a chance to shine on a world stage and to challenge for a World Cup,” he added.

The 49-year-old has a four year mandate to try and accomplish his grandiose plans for football, which were partly frustrated in his first term.

(Agencies)