After two rounds of voting, FIFA officially has a new President.
Gianni Infantino of Switzerland was voted in after receiving 115 votes during the second round of voting on Friday. He needed 104 votes from the 207 members of the selection committee.
He replaces the banned former President Sepp Blatter.
Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, the favorite entering the vote, received just 88 of the 104 votes needed during the second round.
In his acceptance speech, Infantino thanked the voters in six different languages before stating that he will work to bring FIFA back to the glory it once had.
“We will restore the image of FIFA and the respect of FIFA. And everyone in the world will applaud us,” Infantino said. “I want to be the president of all of you … It is time to return to football. FIFA has gone through hard times, crisis times.”
With a new President in place, many expect the location of the 2022 FIFA World Cup to be addressed. For now, though, that doesn’t appear to be on the board for discussion.
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*Featured Photo (above) credit to USA TODAY Sports
