European soccer's Gianni Infantino wins FIFA presidency

UEFA official beats out Bahraini sheikh for top soccer post, vows to ‘restore image’ of sport’s troubled world body

Gianni Infantino was elected FIFA’s new president on Friday, taking over from the disgraced Sepp Blatter and with the mission to rebuild world football’s scandal tainted governing body.

Infantino, general secretary of European confederation UEFA, won in the second round of voting by 207 FIFA member associations at a congress in Zurich.

The 45-year-old Swiss-Italian took 115 votes, beating out his closest rival, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, the president of the Asian football federation, who claimed 88 votes in the second round, where only a simple majority of support was required. Prince Ali of Jordan had four and Jerome Champagne of France got zero.

Speaking after his win, Infantino vowed to “restore the image of FIFA.”

FIFA President Sepp Blatter speaks during a press conference at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, Tuesday, June 2, 2015. (Ennio Leanza/Keystone via AP)

Blatter, who stepped down last May, on Friday called Infantino a worthy successor to continue his work. He praised the new president’s “experience, expertise, strategic and diplomatic skills” and said he “has all the qualities to continue my work and to stabilize FIFA again” after a corruption crisis.

Infantino will complete the rest of Blatter’s presidential term, serving through May 2019. The 79-year-old official was banned by the FIFA ethics committees along with Infantino’s now former boss, UEFA President Michel Platini.

The warm congratulations was a notable change of tone for Blatter, who early in the campaign sniped at Infantino despite the fact they come from neighboring Swiss villages.