Gianni Infantino marked 10 years as Fifa president on 26 February 2026, having been elected with a mandate to rescue football's world governing body. The decade since has brought reform, expansion and, more recently, controversy, even as Fifa's finances have recovered strongly.
Infantino took over after Fifa was engulfed by allegations of widespread corruption and following the resignation of predecessor Sepp Blatter. The organisation's finances were in a desperate state, with a reported $550m (£392m) black hole after sponsors walked away, but it now expects record revenues of $13bn (£9.6bn) for the three-year cycle to the end of this year.
Those figures, however, only tell part of the story. They have been boosted by the controversial Club World Cup and by the biggest-ever World Cup, with its high ticket prices, while Infantino has also faced criticism over his handling of private investment plans, his relationship with Donald Trump and disputes with players' unions and European football.
Fifa says 'nobody selling football' as plan continues
Is Infantino finished? Could Uefa boycott World Cup? What happens now?
Uefa to boycott World Cups if Fifa plans approved
A new day, a new dawn?
It is easy to forget that Blatter's successor was supposed to be Michel Platini. But after Platini was drawn into the scandal at the organisation - both he and Blatter were later fully cleared of corruption charges - Infantino was thrust forward as Uefa's preferred candidate.
As general secretary of European football's governing body, Infantino had been Platini's right-hand man for seven years. Yet he was an unlikely saviour, and a man rarely in the consciousness of the average football fan.
To many, he was just the man who presented Champions League draws.
Ten years on, he is widely recognised by football fans around the world. Turning Fifa around was no small task, particularly after the US Department of Justice had indicted a large number of top executives and the governing body needed root-and-branch reform.
Two pages of Infantino's manifesto were devoted to more than doubling development money for member associations. The money would go to new competitions, infrastructure and even travel costs for smaller nations.
Expanding the World Cup was also included, initially to 40 teams. Within a year it had been rubber-stamped as a 48-team tournament.
The election was close-run. In the first round of voting, Infantino led Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, president of the Asian confederation, by 88 votes to 85.
Infantino only moved clear once the 34 votes originally cast for Jordan's Prince Ali bin al-Hussein and French executive Jerome Champagne were reallocated. The final result was 115 votes to 88.
“This is a new day, a new dawn,” said then Football Association chairman Greg Dyke, welcoming Infantino's win. “He is not a politician and he is not an ego.”
“It's your money, not the money of the Fifa president,” Infantino told delegates. “The money of Fifa has to be used to develop football.”
Infantino was true to his word, but to make more money, Fifa had to be creative.
How did Infantino handle Qatar?
The controversial World Cups of 2018 in Russia and 2022 in Qatar were waiting in Infantino's in-tray. Voting for both tournaments had been shrouded in controversy, with claims of collusion and deals, but the decisions had already been made.
In his early years as president, Infantino kept a fairly low profile. It was only when the World Cup reached Qatar that he became a more public figure.
Under pressure from repeated criticism about workers' rights and claims of modern slavery in the country, Infantino hit back. He first accused European media of “hypocrisy” and “racism” about Qatar, then made his infamous speech on discrimination.
“Today I feel Qatari,” he said. “Today I feel Arabic. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel like a migrant worker.”
At every game he attended, television cameras appeared to pick him out in the crowd.
There was a reason for that. Reports, which Fifa declined to comment on, suggested television directors were advised that Infantino should be shown at least once in each game, but not if he was on his phone.
Fifa accused of breaching own rules with Trump award
Trump and Infantino - too close for comfort?
Fifa accused of creating 'fake' player unions
When did Infantino start courting controversy?
After the Qatar World Cup, Infantino made even more headlines, from hosting plans and new tournaments to disparaging remarks about the behaviour of England fans.
He had promised an expanded summer Club World Cup shortly after his election in 2016. The plan suffered several delays, but two days before the 2022 World Cup final Fifa announced it would go ahead in 2025, hosted by the United States.
That placed a major tournament into a summer usually reserved for player recovery. Fifa rejected claims that players' union Fifpro and the World Leagues' Association were not consulted.
Then came the unusual allocation of the 2030 and 2034 World Cup finals. It was decided that the 2030 tournament would be staged across three continents - Africa, Europe and South America. That meant the 2034 event had to go to Asia or Oceania.
With no realistic competition, that effectively guaranteed Saudi Arabia - another country facing questions over its human rights record - would host. Saudi Arabia and Fifa, under Infantino, had already developed a close relationship.
Norway's football federation abstained from the process and said the bidding process undermined “Fifa's reforms for good governance” and challenged “trust in Fifa”.
In May 2024, it was revealed that Infantino received a 33% pay rise, external, determined by an independent committee, after his re-election the previous year. That lifted his base salary from 1.95m Swiss francs (£1.7m) in 2022 to 2.6m Swiss francs (£2.3m).
On top of that, he was due a bonus of 1.65m Swiss francs (£1.5m), unchanged from before.
Infantino, who was earning about £1.3m when first elected in 2016, is now close to Blatter's final annual salary payment of £2.6m, external.
However, a Fifa investigation showed that under Blatter, leading executives were being paid huge bonuses running well into the millions, external.
In November 2024, with the new-look Club World Cup drawing closer, Fifa unveiled the trophy, engraved with a personal tribute.
“Inspired by the Fifa president Gianni Infantino,” it read.
How close is Infantino to Trump?
Infantino and Donald Trump have become closely linked, and the US president was awarded the inaugural Fifa Peace Prize.
Uefa was growing frustrated with Infantino's profile and his close relationship with US President Donald Trump. That came to a head in May 2025, when Infantino had been on a diplomatic tour of the Middle East with Trump and turned up two hours late for the Fifa Congress.
Uefa accused Infantino of prioritising “private political interests” and staged a walk-out.
Then came last summer's Club World Cup, which was marked by stadiums with swathes of empty seats. Yet when Infantino gathered the media at Trump Tower, he declared it to be “already the most successful club competition in the world”.
In December, the draw for this summer's World Cup became a long, lavish and outlandish affair. Infantino was front and centre, and Trump was awarded the controversial Fifa Peace Prize.
Within a week came the announcement of high ticket prices for the finals. Group-stage tickets are up to three times the price of those for the 2022 World Cup, and the cheapest ticket for the final in New Jersey is £3,119.
After a minor climbdown, Infantino defended the prices and said they reflected the public's “absolutely crazy” demand.
Infantino insisted that all the money would go back into the game, saying “without Fifa there would be no football in 150 countries”.
He still had one more media mis-step before reaching his 10-year anniversary. Earlier this month he apologised after saying it was “really special” that no British nationals were arrested during the 2022 World Cup.
What happened during the World Cup controversy?
Infantino came to wider public attention, and drew further criticism, during this summer's World Cup, staged in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
The tournament made headlines before a ball was kicked, with visas to the United States delayed and even denied for supporters, coaching staff and officials.
In May, Iran's base for the tournament was moved to Mexico after the US made it clear it did not want to host the team because of political tensions between the two nations.
That was followed by Somali referee Omar Artan, one of 52 officials appointed for the tournament, being refused entry when he arrived at Miami International Airport.
Fifa refused to intervene on Artan's behalf, saying it was “not involved in the host country's immigration process”.
When the football eventually began, Infantino's relationship with Trump was thrust into the spotlight after the US president asked Fifa to overturn Folarin Balogun's one-match suspension.
USA forward Balogun was sent off during the lat-32 tie against Bosnia-Herzegovina, but was cleared to feature in the next round after an unprecedented intervention from Trump, which drew widespread criticism.
The fallout continued earlier this week as Fifa opened disciplinary proceedings against Argentina over its behaviour after the final defeat by Spain and throughout the tournament.
What happened to the investment plan?
The controversial plan to sell stakes in the organisation's major competitions prompted Uefa nations to agree to boycott all future Fifa competitions and led to the resignation of one of Infantino's senior advisers.
The plan would have allowed Fifa to create a commercial subsidiary to run its main events, with external investors able to buy stakes in the company.
Fifa's chief operating officer Kevin Lamour said the governing body's own administration had been “deceived” about the project, and UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham described Infantino as “the wrong man” to lead Fifa.
After a further two major confederations spoke out, Infantino released a statement saying it would no longer proceed with the plans. He added that it had become clear the project had “created divisions” that were “no longer in the interest” of its original objective.
Despite the controversies, one fact remains: there is still no meaningful opposition to Infantino.
While the 55-year-old may face criticism in Europe, for the rest of the world he has made a clear difference. Yes, it is about money. But money for football.
He has enriched some of the poorest and smallest footballing nations, providing funding through infrastructure and development.
Infantino has been true to his word that Fifa would be transparent, publishing the salaries of all top executives and keeping funds within football.
After being re-elected unopposed in 2019 and 2023, he is approaching another election year in 2027.
Infantino will be able to stand again, even though Fifa statutes limit the president to a maximum of three terms.
Almost half of the 211 votes are held by Asia and Africa - two regions that have benefited from the greatly increased finances.
A version of this article was first published in February 2026.
##
##
Follow your club with
Listen to the latest Football Daily podcast
Get football news sent straight to your phone
