Meeting in Kigali for the 73rd Congress of the world football body, delegates from the 211 member federations reappointed by acclamation the 52-year-old leader, the only one in the running as in his previous election in 2019, without this system allowing to count dissenting votes.

The president of the Norwegian Federation, Lise Klaveness, had however warned that she would not support Infantino, and brought to the agenda a discussion on "reparation in case of human rights violations" related to FIFA competitions, demanding a balance sheet of deaths on the construction sites of the World Cup-2022 in Qatar and their compensation.

But the Europeans could not agree on a competing bid and Michel Platini's former confidant at UEFA (2009-2016), unexpectedly elected head of FIFA in February 2016 after a cascade of scandals, is guaranteed to remain at the top of world football at least until 2027.

Redistributive power

While the statutes of the Zurich organization now provide for three terms of up to four years, Infantino has already prepared the ground to stay until 2031, declaring in mid-December that he was "still in his first term", since his 2016-2019 lease was incomplete.

The horizon seems clear for the smooth-headed lawyer, who again claimed Thursday to want to "make football truly global", and stands as a bulwark against the sporting and economic hegemony of European football thanks to Fifa's development programs, boosted by its growing revenues.

© Odd ANDERSEN / AFP/Archives

As four years ago, it can post a solid financial balance sheet, with an 18% increase in revenues and 45% in reserves over the 2019-22 cycle compared to the previous one, which allows FIFA to further increase its subsidies to confederations and federations, the key to its redistributive system as well as its electoral system.

The organization grants the same amounts to Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts and Nevis, Bermuda and Papua New Guinea as it does to Brazil or Germany, each of these federations also having one vote in Congress.

As long as the president pleases the 35 associations of Central America, including many Caribbean islands, or the 54 African federations, he can thus afford to offend the powerful European nations: by considering a biennial World Cup before giving it up, last year, or by prohibiting a handful of selections to wear an inclusive armband "One Love" during the Qatari World Cup, to proclaim their commitment to LGBT rights.

Football fractures

On the governance side, her last mandate was marked by a vast reform of transfers, the institution of maternity leave for professional players and more protective disciplinary procedure rules for victims of sexual violence.

Already, the main projects of the coming years have been approved: starting with the passage of the men's World Cup from 32 to 48 teams from the 2026 edition shared between the United States, Canada and Mexico, decided in 2017 and whose format was set on Tuesday.

© Simon MAINA / AFP

By opting for a group stage with twelve groups of four teams, the tournament will jump from 64 to 104 games, a juggernaut cut to explode ticket revenues and attract more and more broadcasters.

In addition, FIFA decided on 16 December to expand its Club World Cup from an annual seven-team format to a four-team competition with 32 teams from the summer of 2025. A project that his boss has been trying to achieve for years to compete with the lucrative UEFA Champions League.

But this race to expand could well awaken the fractures of football: Wednesday evening the World League Forum (WLF), bringing together forty championships, denounced decisions "without consultation", which further burden "an already overloaded calendar, and take no account of the impact on the competitiveness of domestic leagues and the health of players".

The WLF, like its European League counterpart grouping the European championships, will "decide" the "most appropriate" responses, leaving the threat of a judicial response.

© 2023 AFP