The incumbent FIFA president Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino is committed to take the football across the globe not only as a game but also as a hope to the children and youths of most marginalised communities. Preparations are underway for holding Under-17 Women’s World Cup India in 2022 in Odisha. The FIFA president believes that football is a hope and he wishes to take this to children across the globe.
Before being elected the FIFA president, Gianni Infantino was the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) general secretary from 2009 to 2016.
At the helm of the UEFA administration, he helped strengthen the national teams and the club football in Europe and create a more democratic and sustainable environment for European football through initiatives such as Financial Fair Play. After taking over as the FIFA president, his thrust is upon repositioning the FIFA as a credible, trustworthy, modern, professional and accountable organisation.
While working with the FIFA Council, the 211 FIFA member-associations and an administration of over 800 employees, he has achieved this through the implementation of a wide-ranging reform process, including the establishment of in-built good Governance and compliance functions and numerous initiatives, chief among which is the Forward Programme, the most ambitious, streamlined and accountable football development programme in the FIFA’s history with FIFA member associations entitled to up to five times the amount of investment they were entitled to in 2015.
Having delivered a successful reform process, the new FIFA has broadened its horizons to take a more active role as a responsible member of the global society whether through the promotion of education and life skills for children under the FIFA Football for Schools Programme, the protection of minors and vulnerable members of the football family with the FIFA Guardians initiative or by partnering with international organisations, including various agencies of the United Nations, the African Union, the ASEAN and the Council of Europe, to use the unique power of football as a driver of positive social progress.
Gianni Infantino’s long-term vision for FIFA is to make football truly global by levelling up playing and organisational standards across every continent and expanding participation in the world’s most prestigious football competitions: the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Women’s World Cup. He has also worked as Secretary General of the International Centre for Sport Studies (CIES) at the University of Neuchâtel prior to joining the UEFA in 2000, having previously been an adviser to a variety of football bodies in Italy, Spain and Switzerland.
His landmark accomplishments being the FIFA president include implementing sweeping governance reforms, introducing the FIFA Forward Programme,
revolutionising football development investment around the world, establishing a Women’s Football Division and the FIFA’s first-ever Women’s Football strategy. Being from an immigrant from Italy, Infantino had a tough childhood. His father had immigrated to Switzerland. Infantino grew up in a humble background facing all sorts of hardships to make both ends meet. Despite challenges and financial constraints, nothing could stop him from attaining heights. He's the living example that showcases how hard work, sincerity and fortitude could lead to success.
He is convinced that education alone is the tool to transform the lives of poorest and marginalised and wishes to contribute towards the same through his charitable endeavours.
(Dr Samanta is MP, Kandhamal; president, Volleyball Federation of India; and founder, KIIT & KISS)