For the moment, no credible opponent has come out of the woods to challenge his re-election (the third and last), at the beginning of 2023, after the next World Cup in Qatar.

Six years ago, however, it was as a default candidate that Infantino, now 52, ​​rose to the top of world football.

Fifa was then deeply shaken by a corruption scandal involving its former president, Joseph Blatter, who left the institution that he had deeply marked through the back door, a few months after the terrible and symbolic image of a rain of counterfeit banknotes thrown by an activist during a press conference.

Then candidate for the succession of Blatter, Michel Platini, must throw in the towel, also implicated.

Former Frenchman No. 2 at UEFA, where he was the architect of the implementation of financial fair play and the transition to a 24-team Euro in 2016, Infantino is only known to the general public for his appearances during the draws.

But he established himself as Michel Platini's confidant and the essential cog in a European confederation which he joined in 2000 as a lawyer.

Arriving at the head of Fifa according to circumstances and the fall of Blatter and his former mentor, Infantino won and was re-elected in 2019.

Biennial World

Among its flagship projects, expand its Club World Cup from 8 to 24 teams, and organize it every four years.

A project designed to stimulate international competition between clubs.

UEFA is against it, but the father of four children does not break and has this new formula adopted from June 2021 in Miami.

Under his leadership, the World also goes from 32 to 48 teams.

It will not be at the end of the year in Qatar as he would have liked, but in 2026, during a World Cup shared between the United States, Mexico and Canada.

But his appetite for reform comes up against opposition.

In May 2021, month of overhaul of the international calendar after 2024, Infantino does not rule out the possibility of a World Cup every two years, proposed by Arsène Wenger: "The starting point is not: the calendar is full so nothing does not change", he replies to his critics.

If it appeals to the African and Asian confederations enticed by the promise of additional income, this idea meets the frank hostility of Europeans and South Americans, big names in sport and supporters.

Gianni Infantino newly elected president of Fifa in Zurich, February 26, 2016 FABRICE COFFRINI AFP / Archives

After defending the desire for "global" football, where each country "has the right to dream", he finally backed down on Thursday, assuring that "Fifa had never proposed a biennial World Cup" but only studied its "feasibility".

Haut-Valaisan like Sepp Blatter, Infantino the unexpected has in turn established himself as one of the bosses of world sport, becoming in January 2020 a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), as had been his predecessor.

It does not matter that his ex-boss, Michel Platini disputes his "legitimacy".

Excluding Russia

But the 51-year-old technocrat with a smooth profile experienced a severe hitch to his career in July 2020: he was the subject of criminal proceedings launched by the Swiss justice system which accused him of three secret meetings in 2016 and 2017 with Michael Lauber, then head of the Ministry. Public of the Confederation (MPC), and suspects him of collusion with the prosecution in cases in which Fifa is a civil party.

Meetings behind which Platini detects a plot hatched to harm him.

Russia captain Artem Dzyuba during a Euro match against Denmark on June 21, 2021 in Copenhagen Jonathan NACKSTRAND POOL/AFP/Archives

The case forced Mr. Lauber to resign, but the internal justice of Fifa cleared Infantino.

In 2021, he must once again face the suspicions of those who accuse him of having covertly encouraged the highly controversial Superleague project, a closed competition created for and by twelve major European clubs.

Silent for a few days, Infantino finally ends up siding with UEFA No. 1, Aleksander Céferin.

Fifa boss Gianni Infantino (d) aside with UEFA boss Aleksander Ceferin during the Euro opener between Italy and Turkey in Rome, June 11, 2021 Handout Quirinale Press Office/AFP/ Archives

If the Slovenian seems to have the upper hand in the standoff over the biennial World Cup, the two men have on the other hand agreed on the line of intransigence to exclude Russia from the Qatari World Cup.

A sign of appeasement in the power struggles in world football, over which Infantino intends to reign for four more years.

© 2022 AFP