Fifa’s Infantino says first election win was inspired by Rwanda genocide recovery
Fifa president Gianni Infantino has likened his first election win in 2016 to the Rwandan genocide recovery as he spoke upon his re-election in the country’s capital Kigali.
“What this country has suffered and how this country came back up is inspiring for the entire world,” he said.
The Fifa president, first elected in 2016, said how he weighed up pulling out of his campaign eight years ago before changing his mind after a visit to the Rwanda genocide memorial – commemorating the genocide in 1994 – on a footballing trip ahead of the vote.
“I said, who I am to give up,” Infantino added. “What this country has suffered and how this country came back up is inspiring for the entire world.”
“So I certainly couldn’t give up.”
“I continued to campaign … I was elected FIFA president.”
Infantino was re-elected unopposed for a new term as president of Fifa at the Fifa Congress which will see him remain in post until 2027.
The president came under fire ahead of the Qatar World Cup in 2022 when in response to anger over human rights issues in the host country, he compared himself to migrant workers, gay people and others.
Infantino also revealed the first stadium to be named after Pele (Edson Arantes do Nascimento) – the 52-year-old said at the Brazilian superstar’s funeral that every country should have a stadium named after the footballer.