By Victor Kanayo
FIFA President, Gianni Infantino is still unopposed, less than 48 hours to the annual Congress of World Football governing body scheduled for Kigali, the Rwandan capital.
Up to 211 member Federations are expected to be represented at the congress, few hours after the FIFA council held its meeting to draw up some resolutions.
The federations from across various continents will mostly, wave for a third four-year term for Infantino to remain as FIFA president.
Also, delegates from the 211 member federations, will have a limited choice at the 73rd FIFA Congress, between re-electing the 52-year-old incumbent by acclamation or symbolically disapproving.
It will not all be a plain sailing for Infantino in Kigali, with the Norwegian Football Federation tabling a proposal to discuss “FIFA’s responsibilities to remedy human rights abuses” in relation to the Qatar World Cup and future tournaments.
He repeatedly defended Qatar, host of the recent men’s World Cup, whose treatment of migrant workers, women and the LGBTQ community, came under the spotlight.
Infantino was firstly elected in February 2016, following the scandal that brought down Sepp Blatter.
He then stood unopposed for re-election in 2019 and is now poised to stay in charge of world Football until at least, 2027.
While the statutes of the Zurich-based organisation currently limit a president to a maximum of three four-year terms, Infantino has already prepared the ground to stay until 2031, declaring in December, that his first three years at the helm did not count as full term.
The Swiss-born quintessential football administrator has also been embroiled in controversy, as president of FIFA.
This followed his resolve to expand the men’s World Cup and the Club World Cup during his time at the helm.
