The President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, who has been leading world football for ten years, announced Thursday in Vancouver that he would be a candidate for re-election in 2027.
Elected in 2016, re-elected in 2019 and 2023, the 56-year-old Italo-Swiss took advantage of the FIFA Congress to “confirm,” he said, that he would indeed be a candidate, as some considerations have already pledged their support to him. Infantino made the announcement six weeks before the first World Cup with 48 countries co-hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
According to FIFA statutes, the head of the organization cannot serve more than three terms. However, he was officially considered to be starting his second term during the elective Congress held in 2023 in Kigali, Rwanda, after commencing his first term in 2016 following the fall of his predecessor Sepp Blatter due to corruption charges, which was deemed “incomplete” and therefore did not count towards the limitation.
Wide Support
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced on Thursday their support for his re-election, bringing his total to 101 votes out of 211. Infantino already had the backing of the 10 votes from South America (each national member federation, regardless of size, has one vote at FIFA).
Infantino, at the helm of world football since 2016, has faced numerous controversies, especially in recent months due to his close ties with American President Donald Trump, to whom he awarded the first FIFA Peace Prize. The awarding of this distinction in December 2025 led the FairSquare association to file a complaint with FIFA’s ethics committee.
Infantino has also faced criticism for the expansion of the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams, which will take place starting from the 2026 edition in the United States, Mexico, and Canada (June 11 – July 19). However, his desire to host the World Cup every two years instead of every four has failed.
On the other hand, Infantino has significantly increased FIFA’s revenues, now estimated at $13 billion at the end of the four-year cycle ending after the 2026 World Cup.
For the 2027-2030 cycle, FIFA has also committed to distributing approximately $2.7 billion to its members, eight times more than ten years ago, through its FIFA Forward program.
