Gianni Infantino: From cleaner to powerful president of FIFA

Before taking the seat of world football's most powerful seat, Gianni Infantino had a poor past. He has worked many jobs, accepting to work as a garbage cleaner and cleaner on train cars to pursue his passion for football and his dream of cleaning " FIFA".

Obsession with poverty, immigration

"We live near the train station where my father worked and my life is also tied to the carriages," Infantino said, placing his hand on his heart and emotionally sharing his past in the moment of taking office as FIFA president. He said he would never forget that past. It is part of him, making an Infantino brave and resolute against evil, bossiness and corruption in world football.

Infantino's parents were immigrants to Switzerland in the 1960s. Infantino followed his parents to a new country, bringing with him the hope of a less difficult life. His mother sells groceries and his father works as a cleaner for train stations in Brig, a German-speaking Swiss town near the Alps. Infantino's childhood was spent with the jingle, the screeching sound of ships.

Infantino was smart and hardworking from a young age. He passed the law exam at a prestigious university, but his family did not have enough money for him to study. Infantino did nothing to earn money, including cleaning freight cars every day (which his father was doing). Self-motivated, Infantino used the money he earned from cleaning garbage, cleaning and cleaning train cars to buy books and learn many foreign languages, from English, German, French to Spanish.

His poor childhood took many things from him, and the inferiority complex of immigrants also dogged Infantino. But that past also made Infantino determined to study and formed in him the will to strive, not afraid of difficulties and hardships to pursue his dreams.

Happened to be FIFA President

Although studying law, Gianni Infantino has a special passion for football. Since childhood, Infantino has been a fan of Inter, admiring striker Alessandro Altobelli and midfielder Evaristo Beccalossi - Inter's stars of the 1970s and 1980s and regularly brought to the San Siro by his father.

After earning a law degree, Infantino started an amateur football team for Italian immigrants living locally. It was then that Infantino began to manage and run football. In 2000, he officially entered the UEFA house. He has been secretary-general of Europe's most powerful football organization since 2009.

He has no intention of running for FIFA president as his boss, Michel Platini, is seen as a sure replacement for Sepp Blatter. But Blatter reopened the embezzlement conviction, dragging Platini out of football life with a six-year sentence. Infantino thus became the last candidate to run. Within months, Infantino had done everything with wisdom and agility to become the ultimate winner.

Professional, brilliant, ambitious, Gianni Infantino is a typical Swiss role model serving in the management of international sports bodies. His campaign manifesto was at the right focus: Transparency, reorganization of FIFA. But most important were promises of money, to seduce the federations to vote for him.

"I accept the results of the election, thank you all. I can't express how I feel right now. I've just been on an amazing journey, meeting people who love football, breathing football and living with football every day. I want to work with all of you, the 209 member federations, to build a new era, to put football at the center," said Infantino, placing his hand on his heart, repeatedly thanking him when he was elected in 2016.

In 2019, Infantino was re-elected for the first time and played a leading role in bringing the 2026 World Cup to Canada, Mexico and the United States with the number of teams participating in the finals skyrocketing from 32 to 48.

According to European media, the FIFA charter allows Gianni Infantino to "reign" until 2031, which is two more terms. Only the threat of a Swiss Justice Ministry investigation into Infantino in 2016 and 2017 could shake the president's powers, and Switzerland is still waiting to monitor the case and how it will be handled.

Controversial shock statement at the 2022 World Cup

In the days leading up to the World Cup, discussions about host nation Qatar were always intense. A day before the opening ceremony, FIFA President Gianni Infantino made a shocking remarks, further heating up the controversy surrounding the first World Cup to be held in a Muslim country.

"Today, I feel Qatari. Today, I feel Arab, African, homosexual, disabled, or migrant workers. I feel like them because I know what it feels like to be bullied," Infantino told reporters, according to Le Monde.

Infantino's comments were the start of an hour-long speech against criticism of host nation Qatar. The FIFA president accused Europe of hypocrisy, condemned a section of the media, and even attacked the polling industry for not accurately reflecting public sentiment.

To some, Infantino's rhetoric was authoritarian. But for others, the FIFA president suddenly became a third-world representative.

Infantino's key message to the West is that the 2022 World Cup is not exclusive to the West, but that the event is held for all.

On the opening day, Infantino appeared friendly as he sat next to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to watch the match between hosts Qatar and Ecuador.

Then there was the controversy surrounding the fact that 8 European teams planned to wear rainbow armbands to support the rights of the LGBT community. FIFA responded by threatening to sanction teams wearing One Love armbands. European teams then had to make concessions.

Lise Klaveness, president of the Norwegian Football Federation, said Infantino's actions partly reflected the pressures he faced during this year's World Cup.

According to the expert, the 2022 World Cup is a test of public relations with FIFA.

The 12 years since Doha won the right to host the World Cup are also 12 years when many questions have been raised both with Qatar and FIFA, according to the Financial Times. Former FIFA president Blatter even claimed hosting the World Cup in Qatar was a mistake.

For Infantino, the World Cup in Qatar is a legacy he inherited from FIFA's predecessor, headed by Blatter.

Infantino himself has invested a lot of effort to support the first World Cup to be held in the Middle East. The FIFA president even moved with his wife and children to Doha for a relatively long time.

His next challenge may be tackling the 2030 World Cup candidacy of Saudi Arabia, another Muslim country.

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