Gianni Infantino

Infantino was born on 23 March 1970 in Brig, Switzerland, the son of immigrant parents from the Italian regions of Calabria and Lombardy. As a result, he holds both Swiss and Italian citizenship. His parents had lived in Domodossola, Piedmont, before moving to Switzerland for work. His father, Vincenzo, was from Reggio Calabria, while his mother, Maria Minolfi, was from Piamborno in Piancogno, Val Camonica, in the province of Brescia. His father worked for the railway, including on sleeping cars, while his mother ran a newsstand in Brig; Infantino later recalled growing up around the railway station and helping his mother at the kiosk. The family had spent part of the post-war period in Val d'Ossola before moving to Switzerland, where Infantino grew up in Brig. Owing to his father, an Inter Milan supporter who attended the club's European Cup finals in the 1960s, Infantino was introduced to this football club during his childhood; the very first football match his father took him to see as a child was an Inter match at San Siro. His footballing heroes became Alessandro Altobelli and Evaristo Beccalossi. At the age of 11, he and two friends took over and reorganised FC Folgore, a team formed by Italian immigrants in Upper Valais, and entered it in the Swiss league in the fifth tier. At the age of 14, he attended his first Switzerland–Italy match, a 1–1 friendly in Lausanne in November 1984, with Rossi and Altobelli among the starters. As an amateur footballer, Infantino…

Infantino started working at UEFA in August 2000 as a member of its professional football and marketing division, where he subsequently took charge of relations with football leagues, and was appointed as the Director of UEFA's Legal Affairs and Club Licensing Division in January 2004. The Panama Papers indicated that while he was a senior legal official at UEFA, Infantino had co-signed a television-rights contract with a company subsequently linked to defendants in the United States investigation into FIFA corruption, a relationship UEFA had previously denied. Infantino said that he was "dismayed" by the reports and stated that he had never personally dealt with the indicted parties. Following the departure of Lars-Christer Olsson, Infantino became UEFA's Chief Executive ad interim, and was appointed Deputy General Secretary in October 2007 and Secretary General of UEFA in October 2009. During his time there, UEFA introduced Financial Fair Play and improved commercial support to smaller national associations, while Infantino also played an active role in protecting the integrity of football. In response to the 2015 Greek football scandal and acts of violence and corruption, mainly in Greek football, the Greek government decided to introduce a new sports law. As UEFA's general secretary, Infantino led the negotiations with the Greek government and supported the Hellenic Football Federation's warning to Greece that it faced suspension from international football for…

Governance

2015–2016

Alongside his career at UEFA, Infantino was a member of FIFA's Reform Committee. In 2015, he received the backing of the UEFA Executive Committee to stand for the position of president in the 2016 FIFA Extraordinary Congress. He was the official UEFA candidate to succeed Sepp Blatter as FIFA president, following Blatter's resignation from the position shortly after his re-election. On 26 October 2015, he confirmed his candidacy and submitted the required declarations of support. He promised to expand the FIFA World Cup to forty teams.

On 26 February 2016, Infantino was elected FIFA President, receiving on the second ballot 115 votes out of 207. He was elected to serve until 2019, completing the remainder of Blatter's term. Infantino, a dual Swiss-Italian citizen at the time, became the first Italian to hold the presidency of FIFA. Following his election, Infantino stepped down as UEFA general secretary, and Theodore Theodoridis was appointed general secretary ad interim on 4 March 2016. Infantino's first presidency focused on repositioning FIFA as an organisation committed to significantly increase its investment in the development of football worldwide. Since his first election, Infantino has introduced wide-ranging reforms at FIFA, expanding the FIFA World Cup to 48 teams from the 2026 edition onwards, and introducing the use of VAR at the 2018 edition. He also promoted the expansion of the FIFA Club World Cup to 32 teams from the…

According to The New Yorker, former colleagues have described Infantino as maintaining tight personal control over FIFA; one former council member said "he decides everything by himself". Infantino's Instagram account, with 4.2 million followers and a restricted comments section, functions as FIFA's principal public-messaging channel. He has described FIFA as "the official happiness provider to humanity". In a 887-word statement in 2026, Infantino criticised sports journalism in world football calling critics of his FIFA tenure "hypocritical" and counter-productive. As a lifelong supporter of Inter, Infantino is often seen celebrating the club's milestones, such as the 2026 scudetto. His public alignment with Inter and subsequent comments have drawn criticism regarding his neutrality as the FIFA president. In a controversial March 2018 interview prior to the Derby della Madonnina with AC Milan, he stated that Inter's history is "a beautiful one that has moved millions of people" and that it is "a slightly crazy team that makes us suffer", and added that it is "perhaps also thanks to being an Inter fan that I went on to become the FIFA president". In April 2022, Infantino sparked controversy and faced backlash from Juventus supporters after jokingly celebrating a Juventus defeat and an Inter victory, stating it was the "ideal day" because "Fiorentina won and Juventus lost", before adding that "Inter also won, so I am happy too". Infantino's management style has been…