Gianni Infantino

Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino (born 23 March 1970) is a football administrator and the president of FIFA since 2016. He has also been an International Olympic Committee member since 2020.

Following his initial election to the FIFA presidency on 26 February 2016, he was re-elected on 5 June 2019 and again on 16 March 2023. His election to IOC membership took place on 10 January 2020.

As president of FIFA, he oversaw the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, for which he accepted the Order of Friendship medal given to him by Vladimir Putin. He oversaw the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar during which time he defended or minimised controversies surrounding Qatar's human rights record. He played a key role in the selection of Saudi Arabia as host of the 2034 FIFA World Cup, as he advocated for a Saudi bid and restricted the hosting eligibility, which reduced the number of potential competing bids.

Under his leadership, FIFA began engraving Infantino's name on the FIFA Club World Cup trophy.

In November 2025, he introduced the FIFA Peace Prize, with President of the United States Donald Trump receiving the inaugural award in Washington, D.C. in December 2025. The award and recipient have drawn criticism, given that Trump "has aggressively campaigned for and carped about" the Nobel Peace Prize; both the timing and the optics were remarked upon and "have fueled questions about the blurring of sport and diplomacy".

Early life and education

Infantino was born on 23 March 1970 in Brig, Switzerland. He is a son of Italian immigrant parents from the Italian regions of Calabria and Lombardy and has the citizenship of both countries. He studied law at the University of Fribourg. He speaks French, German and Italian as mother tongues and also speaks Arabic, English, Portuguese and Spanish.