Infantino steps out from Platini’s shadow
by Agency Staff,
2016-02-24 05:00:00.0
GIANNI Infantino made his name as Uefa’s master of ceremonies until scandal forced his boss, Michel Platini, out of the race for the Fifa presidency.
The shaven-headed Swiss-Italian lawyer is in a close fight with Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa and three other candidates for the leadership of world football to be decided on Friday.
Since becoming Uefa general secretary in 2009, Infantino has become best known to the football public as the man who takes out the lottery balls when the draw is made for the Champions League.
He is a behind-the-scenes figure much valued by Europe’s leading clubs who battle for Champions League spoils each season.
But he would not have risen without Platini’s downfall over a suspect €1.8m payment to the Frenchman approved by former Fifa boss Sepp Blatter in 2011.
"I am not looking for power," he told the Swiss newspaper Le Matin at the weekend. "A few months ago, I was not even thinking about launching into this adventure."
Infantino speaks English, German, French, Spanish and Italian. He is also a workaholic trusted by the big clubs who were Platini’s major backers.
Infantino is "someone that Platini could trust to reform Uefa’s administration", said a representative of a major club, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Platini camp is annoyed by the ambitions of the Frenchman’s former right-hand man, who has come out of the shadows with an ambitious plan for Fifa.
Infantino has proposed increasing the 32-team World Cup to 40 countries and he also wants to give $5m every four years to each member association and $40m to each of the six continental confederations.
AFP
Michel Platini. Picture: REUTERS
GIANNI Infantino made his name as Uefa’s master of ceremonies until scandal forced his boss, Michel Platini, out of the race for the Fifa presidency.
The shaven-headed Swiss-Italian lawyer is in a close fight with Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa and three other candidates for the leadership of world football to be decided on Friday.
Since becoming Uefa general secretary in 2009, Infantino has become best known to the football public as the man who takes out the lottery balls when the draw is made for the Champions League.
He is a behind-the-scenes figure much valued by Europe’s leading clubs who battle for Champions League spoils each season.
But he would not have risen without Platini’s downfall over a suspect €1.8m payment to the Frenchman approved by former Fifa boss Sepp Blatter in 2011.
"I am not looking for power," he told the Swiss newspaper Le Matin at the weekend. "A few months ago, I was not even thinking about launching into this adventure."
Infantino speaks English, German, French, Spanish and Italian. He is also a workaholic trusted by the big clubs who were Platini’s major backers.
Infantino is "someone that Platini could trust to reform Uefa’s administration", said a representative of a major club, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Platini camp is annoyed by the ambitions of the Frenchman’s former right-hand man, who has come out of the shadows with an ambitious plan for Fifa.
Infantino has proposed increasing the 32-team World Cup to 40 countries and he also wants to give $5m every four years to each member association and $40m to each of the six continental confederations.
AFP
Change: -0.47%
Change: -0.57%
Change: -1.76%
Change: -0.34%
Change: 0.02%
Data supplied by Profile Data
Change: -1.49%
Change: 0.08%
Change: -0.47%
Change: 0.00%
Change: -0.04%
Data supplied by Profile Data
Change: -0.34%
Change: 0.03%
Change: -0.10%
Change: -0.22%
Change: -0.81%
Data supplied by Profile Data
Change: -0.28%
Change: -1.15%
Change: -0.07%
Change: -1.21%
Change: -0.22%
Data supplied by Profile Data