Gianni Infantino in the top

Manama/Zurich : Gianni Infantino, the UEFA secretary general, has succeeded fellow Swiss Sepp Blatter as President of world football’s governing body FIFA after polling a majority 115 votes out of 207 against Bahrain’s Asian Football Confederation President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa’s 88 in the second round of polling at the Extraordinary FIFA Congress 2016 yesterday at the Hallenstadion in Zurich.

The other candidates in the second round were Jordan’s Prince Ali bin Hussein, who polled four and Frenchman Jerome Champagne, who finished with none.

Earlier in the first round, with a total of 138 or two thirds majority required for victory, Infantino came in first with 88 votes, ahead of Shaikh Salman (85), Prince Ali (27) and Champagne (7). Tokyo Sexwale had withdrawn before the vote started. 

Fourty-five-year old Infantino is also a lawyer and lives less than six miles from Blatter’s hometown of Visp.

Representing Bahrain at the voting was the Bahrain Football Association President Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa. Bahrain’s delegation of media personnel, representatives from the Bahrain Football Association, Supreme Council for Youth and Sports and Shaikh Salman’s office watched intensely the live coverage on FIFA TV at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Zurich as the drama unfolded.

Before the first round of voting got underway, the delegation was voicing its optimism with hopes that Shaikh Salman would come out on top and lead FIFA into the future. This mood continued after the first round of voting was announced.

The second round turned into straightforward fight by the two pre-election frontrunners. However, after the second round,  with the announcement of the result and Infantino winning a further 27 votes at the expense of the other candidates, Shaikh Salman only mustered a further three.

For Bahrain’s delegation, this was a huge disappointment. 

The former five-term FIFA President Blatter, who was re-elected on May 29 last year, resigned on June 2 amidst corruption charges and was initially banned from football for eight years. 

This is the first time since 1974, when Joao Havelange of Brazil beat 13-year incumbent Stanley Rous of England that a second round has been needed.

In an emotional election victory speech, Infantino said, “I am finding it hard to express my feelings in this moment, but I would restore the image of FIFA and the respect of FIFA. I want to work with all of you to restore and rebuild a new era, where we can put once again football at the centre of the stage.”

“We need to implement the reform, good governance and transparency. We also need to have respect through hard work and commitment and make sure we can finally focus on this wonderful game,” he added.