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Infantino sole candidate for FIFA presidency in June vote

AFP/The Local
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Infantino sole candidate for FIFA presidency in June vote
FIFA president Gianni Infantino delivers a speech during the 43rd Ordinary UEFA Congress on February 7th, 2019, in Rome. Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP.

The news that FIFA president Gianni Infantino is set to go unchallenged in the football governing body's forthcoming June elections will do little to restore the organisation's image.

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FIFA president Gianni Infantino is set to serve a second term after world football's governing body –  headquartered in Zürich – said on Wednesday February 5th he would be the only candidate for June's vote.

The 48-year-old has been in charge of FIFA since February 2016, after succeeding the disgraced Sepp Blatter following the corruption scandal which rocked the organization.

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The election will take place on June 5th in Paris ahead of the women's World Cup.

Former Tottenham defender Ramon Vega had announced his intention to stand against Infantino, but failed to garner the required support of five of FIFA's 211 member federations.

Infantino has introduced plans to increase the World Cup from 32 teams to 48 from 2026, with the possibility to bring forward the expansion to the 2022 edition in Qatar.

A decision is expected to be taken next March after a study into the feasibility of holding an extended tournament in the Gulf state. Michel Platini's former right-hand man at UEFA is also hoping for an enlarged, 24-team Club World Cup from 2021.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin of Slovenia, who will be re-elected on Thursday also as the sole candidate, is opposed to the idea. 

Ceferin's predecessor Michel Platini was banned from football activities over a two million Swiss francs (€1.8 million, $2 million) payment from FIFA and took his case to the Swiss courts . He was provisionally cleared in May 2018 and is now campaigning for FIFA, the governing body of world football to lift his four-year ban from the sport. 

READ MORE: Platini: 'I wish FIFA ethics panel would disappear'

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