- Born:
- March 23, 1970, Brig-Glis, Switzerland (age 56)
Gianni Infantino
What roles did Gianni Infantino hold before becoming FIFA president?
What were Gianni Infantino’s goals and what controversies has he faced as FIFA president?
Did Gianni Infantino give the FIFA Peace Prize to U.S. Pres. Donald Trump?
Does Gianni Infantino speak Arabic?
News •
Gianni Infantino (born March 23, 1970, Brig-Glis, Switzerland) is a Swiss football (soccer) administrator who has served as president of FIFA since 2016. Infantino previously worked in multiple roles at the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA; governing body for football in Europe). Since 2020 he has also been a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Infantino’s tenure at FIFA has seen a massive rise in revenue for the organization but has also been marked by controversies, such as the creation and awarding of the FIFA Peace Prize to U.S. Pres. Donald Trump in 2025.
Life and education
Infantino is the youngest of three children of Italian-born Vincenzo Infantino and Maria Infantino (née Minolfi). His father worked with an overnight train service. The young Infantino was a fan of the Italian football club Inter Milan. He studied law at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, and speaks seven languages: German, French, Italian, English, Portuguese, Spanish, and Arabic.
Infantino is married to Leena Al Ashqar, a Lebanese citizen, and they have four children. Originally holding Swiss and Italian citizenship, Infantino also obtained Lebanese citizenship in 2025.
Career in football administration
Infantino started his career as legal counsel and general secretary for the International Centre for Sports Studies in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. He joined UEFA’s legal and sales department in August 2000 and was appointed director of legal affairs and the club licensing division in 2004. In 2007 he was named deputy general secretary of UEFA, and in 2009 he became the general secretary.
Working under former French footballer Michel Platini, the UEFA president at the time, Infantino oversaw improved monetary support to smaller national football associations in Europe and helped introduce financial fair-play regulations to ensure the profitability and sustainability of football franchises. He also played a prominent role in the expansion of international competitions across Europe, including establishing the framework for the UEFA Nations League in 2014 (the first edition was played in 2018–19) and expanding the UEFA Euro 2016 to 24 teams. In 2015 Infantino mediated a dispute arising from allegations that the Greek government was attempting to reduce the autonomy of the country’s football association.
That year a corruption scandal led to the resignation of FIFA’s president, Sepp Blatter. Platini, the favorite to succeed Blatter, was implicated in the scandal as well. Infantino, who was serving on FIFA’s reform committee, put forward his candidacy for the position, garnering support from member associations in the lead-up to the 2016 FIFA Extraordinary Congress, which was specially convened to elect the new president. On February 26, 2016, he was elected FIFA president for a period of three years, and he was reelected unopposed for four-year terms in 2019 and 2023.
President of FIFA
Infantino inherited a sports body mired in controversy and facing a financial crisis because of sponsor exits. His initial goals included improving transparency and governance, expanding the number of teams in the FIFA World Cup, increasing funding for member associations’ development, and broadening the number of competitions.
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His first major event after taking charge of FIFA was the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, following which Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin awarded him the country’s Order of Friendship medal in 2019. Infantino took on a more public role during and after the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
In 2017 Infantino criticized the U.S. travel ban on multiple Muslim-majority nations, arguing for separation of sports and politics. In 2019 he spoke out on behalf of Iranian women and their right to attend men’s matches in the country; the country’s government had banned women from doing so in 1979.
Infantino presided over the awarding of hosting rights for the 2030 FIFA World Cup to Spain, Morocco, and Portugal, in addition to a few matches scheduled in South America to commemorate the event’s centenary. As a result bidding for hosting the next World Cup, in 2034, was restricted to countries in Asia and Oceania, and it was eventually awarded to Saudi Arabia with little competition from other associations. The choice of host country attracted criticism because of Saudi Arabia’s controversial human rights record.
While current FIFA rules state that a president can serve a maximum of three four-year terms, Infantino, who was reelected to the role in 2019 and 2023, has stated his intention to run for president again in 2027; he has argued that his first three-year term from 2016 to 2019 does not count. His high salary has also drawn attention, but his fulfillment of promises—including increasing the number of teams in the 2026 FIFA World Cup to 48 and transparently passing FIFA revenue to member associations—has been praised.
Career controversies
Infantino’s decisions and policies have often drawn criticism from multiple quarters since he became FIFA president.
FIFA equity sale proposal
In late July 2026, shortly after the conclusion of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Infantino championed the creation of a new entity, the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), which would assume control of FIFA’s events and commercial operations, including future World Cups. Infantino said that the FFE would be funded by raising capital from external investors, including prominent venture funds. One of the designated investors was Thrive Eternal, led by Joshua Kushner (brother of Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner). The proposal was widely condemned as a threat to the integrity of the game and a betrayal of its legacy, with UEFA’s 55 member associations unanimously agreeing on July 30 to boycott any FIFA competitions, including World Cups, in protest of the investment proposal. Other continental governing bodies, including the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), also rejected the plan. Senior FIFA executives also spoke out against the proposal. Carlos Cordeiro, one of Infantino’s senior advisers, resigned in protest, and FIFA’s chief operating officer, Kevin Lamour, distanced himself and the organization from the plan by claiming that it was “the project of one person,” implying Infantino. On August 1 Infantino announced that the proposal had been terminated. In the aftermath multiple parties called for Infantino to step down as FIFA president, and a number of FIFA member countries, including Finland, Wales, Serbia, Sweden, and England, withdrew their support for his reelection bid in 2027. On August 4 Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, the president of the Jordan Football Association, claimed that his country was facing multiple bureaucratic and financial hurdles involving FIFA, including not receiving the prize money for reaching the final of the 2025 Arab Cup, a FIFA-organized event. He revealed that he was told during the 2026 FIFA World Cup that endorsing Infantino’s reelection bid would help with the issues his organization was facing.
Other controversies
- Infantino was named in the 2016 Panama Papers, with regard to contracts he participated in while at UEFA. He was also investigated that year for alleged violations of the FIFA Code of Ethics, including accepting trips on private jets provided by the governments of Russia and Qatar, the hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, respectively.
- Prior to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Infantino faced criticism for ignoring allegations about host Qatar’s negative human rights record, especially the treatment of migrant workers building new infrastructure for the World Cup.
- Infantino also fielded criticism for the new version of the FIFA Club World Cup, which was played in the United States in 2025. The event was denounced for being held in the typically offseason summer period, as well as for high ticket prices, which led to poor attendance at some matches. Detractors also panned the engraving of Infantino’s name on the Club World Cup trophy.
- Infantino’s close relationship with U.S. President Trump, to whom he awarded the new FIFA Peace Prize in 2025, has also drawn scrutiny. That year Infantino showed up late to a FIFA Congress meeting in Asunción, Paraguay, citing travel delays after accompanying Trump on a diplomatic tour of the Middle East; several UEFA delegates walked out in protest. His supporters have defended his closeness to Trump as pragmatism given the imminence of the 2026 World Cup, which was cohosted by the United States.
- Infantino was at the center of various controversies during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He was criticized for such policy decisions as instituting mandatory hydration breaks in matches, which were seen as opportunities to air commercials; employing dynamic pricing, which inflated match ticket prices; and not intervening in issues related to U.S.-imposed travel restrictions and bans against fans of certain countries during the tournament. His relationship with Trump was again called into question when it was revealed that FIFA had agreed to suspend the red card shown to U.S. player Folarin Balogun (leading to the lifting of the one-match ban that he would have to serve during the knockout stage of the World Cup) after Trump called Infantino and asked for the punishment to be reviewed.