FIFA Congress shows Gianni Infantino likely destined to lead world soccer again, before campaign even starts

Infantino is running for what would be his final term as FIFA president, with the election slated for the next edition of the FIFA Congress on March 18 in Rabat, Morocco

Pardeep Cattry

May 1, 2026

6:21 am ET

•

8 min read

Getty Images

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – At the very end of a week of pomp, circumstance and meetings, Gianni Infantino made an attempt at being understated to close out the FIFA Congress. In one sentence and with little preamble, he confirmed he would run for re-election for what would be his final term in the role, allowed for some mild fanfare, and then returned to the final items of business at the end of a busy week.

The subdued nature of Infantino's announcement, though, comes down to the element of surprise, or lack thereof. There was not a single person in FIFA's orbit this week who did not see this news coming, in large part because Infantino had won the endorsement of three different confederations – CONMEBOL, CAF and AFC – before Thursday's announcement, more than enough to warrant a place on the ballot at next year's congress on March 18 in Rabat, Morocco. A week's worth of activities in Vancouver, though, offered a perfect platform for an all-encompasing soft launch of his latest candidacy and what the upper echelons of the world's most popular spot look like a decade after a scandal that has yet to truly fade into a memory.

Clouds of controversy always loom large at FIFA events and in every room Infantino enters, but as he mounts another presidential bid, it seems to be a feature many of the sport's relevant figures have accepted rather than a bug they will complain about.

Infantino's unofficial campaign speech

His annual remarks earlier in the day, after all, were the campaign speech he had no need to make with the formal announcement. He said he did not want to speak of the past as he remarked on the fact that he has been in the job for a decade, but the 2015 corruption scandal that even afforded him a shot at soccer's highest role is his origin story, one he does not particularly shy away from. It was the source of his first unhumble brag, too, a snapshot of one of the weirdest developments a decade after the U.S. Department of Justice came for FIFA.

"The Department of Justice of the United States of America, I want to repeat this, gave us back $201 million to us, to Concacaf and to CONMEBOL," he said, beginning to gloat after opening his speech with his typical tone. "$201 million that they seized from corrupt previous officials. When does this ever happen in the world of business? But it happened with the new FIFA."

The scents of niceties, agreeability, backscratching, pandering and unabashed overpraising were hard to miss. He attributed "the new FIFA" to "you," or the representatives of all but one of FIFA's 211 member delegations who were seated in the Vancouver Convention Centre and will each have a vote in March's presidential election. In an industry where the word "magic" is usually reserved for the star athletes who command our attention with their skillful play, Infantino said "the universal language of football is that language that brings us together, and that makes this magic happen." The magic in question was about what "the new FIFA" is – a vessel for the president to see and be seen, filling out his Instagram grid at the same rate as an influencer eager to build a following.

"Today, FIFA has definitely become a respected, a trusted, a global – a truly global – organization," he said before getting to the point, "sitting at the top tables in every aspect, from United Nations agencies to governments to the top business circles."

It is an ambitious vision for FIFA, so ambitious that Infantino has been accused of spending too much time with U.S. President Donald Trump to the point that he was hours late to last year's congress in Asuncion, Paraguay because he made the long trek to South America from the Middle East. His unvarnished and reckless ambition was on display again in Vancouver on Thursday in a futile attempt to play peacemaker between members of Israel and Palestine's soccer federations, one that blew back in his face. Infantino may have an impressive number of stamps on his passport and exposure to important people in most pockets of the world, but it was easy to predict this would not go well. The war in the region has resulted in a genuine sporting dispute, Palestine's complaint that Israel is operating clubs inside the Palestinian territories enough to warrant a FIFA investigation, and a recommendation from UN experts that Israel should be suspended.

FIFA's decision to fine Israel around $200,000 without other punishment was always going to be met coldly by Palestine's delegates, to the point that federation president Jibril Rajoub refused to shake hands with Israel Football Association vice president Basi