Thursday 22 December 2016, 13:42

Extraordinary FIFA Congress, Zurich 2016

FIFA Member Associations approved a package of landmark reforms that paved the way for significant improvements to the governance of global football, and Gianni Infantino was elected as the ninth FIFA President at the Extraordinary FIFA Congress 2016 held in Zurich.

The reforms were supported by 179 of the 207 Member Associations present and eligible to vote. They were based on proposals made by the 2016 FIFA Reform Committee and the subsequent recommendations put before the Congress by the Executive Committee in the form of draft FIFA Statutes. The reforms represent an essential step towards the modernisation of FIFA’s institutional culture in key areas such as the clear separation of political and management functions, term limits, the disclosure of individual compensation, greater recognition and promotion of women in football and a commitment to enshrining human rights in the FIFA Statutes.

Furthermore, they include statutory principles of good governance for member associations and confederations, such as compulsory annual independent audit reports as well as independent judicial bodies to ensure a separation of powers on all levels of football structures. The main aspects of the approved reforms have been incorporated into an amended version of the FIFA Statutes. A summary of the approved reforms is available here.

Infantino was elected as the President of FIFA for the remainder of the current term of office (until 2019). In line with the FIFA Statutes, the mandate of the new FIFA President started after the conclusion of the Congress.

At the beginning of the proceedings, it was confirmed to the Congress that 207 FIFA member associations were entitled to vote (the member associations of Indonesia and Kuwait could not vote due to their respective suspensions). The candidate Tokyo Sexwale withdrew from the election after his address to the Congress.

Results of the elections for the office of FIFA President:

Ballot 1:

HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein: 27 votes Shk. Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa: 85 votes Jérôme Champagne: 7 votes Gianni Infantino: 88 votes

Ballot 2:

HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein: 4 votes Shk. Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa: 88 votes Jérôme Champagne: 0 votes Gianni Infantino: 115 votes

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