Gianni Infantino was just elected as the ninth ever FIFA president after winning on the second ballot. He replaces Sepp Blatter who in some ways stepped down last year after a huge corruption scandal, yet he continued to consider himself the president.
@IamJoeSports
Infantino defeated Sheikh Salman, who received 88 votes in the second round of voting in Zurich.
“I cannot express my feelings in this moment,” Infantino said in a speech to the voters after the result was announced. “I told you I went through a journey, an exceptional journey, a journey which made me meet many fantastic people, many people who love football, who live football who breathe football. …
We will restore the image of FIFA.”
Blatter is the subject of criminal investigations in his home country of Switzerland over alleged misdeeds committed during his 17-year term in office. Six months after his resignation, FIFA announced it had banned Blatter for eight years after determining he had made an unlawful payment to Michel Platini, his former right-hand man (Platini also was banned for eight years). On Wednesday, FIFA announced it had reduced the bans from eight years to six years.
