Who is Gianni Infantino? Early Life, Background, Career Path, Role and Vision as Fifa President

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup campaign is set to kick off on Saturday (14 June, 2025) when Al Ahly faces off against the hosts nation's representative, Inter Miami. This newly remodelled version of the Club World Cup is the brainchild of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who opted to expand the number of participating teams and make it a post-season tournament.

Infantino has even inscribed his own name onto the newly designed Club World Cup trophy, with his name appearing twice on the trophy. Infantino has served as the FIFA president for nine years now and has overseen two separate FIFA World Cup under his presidency too. To understand his broader impact, let’s explore who Gianni Infantino is and his journey to FIFA’s top role.

Gianni Infantino Early Life & Background

Infantino was born on 23 March, 1970 in the town of Brig, Switzerland. Both his parents were Italian immigrants who had moved to Switzerland, which allowed Infantino to obtain a Swiss citizenship as well as one from Italy. He was quite focused on his career from an early age and went onto obtain a law degree from the University of Fribourg before moving his way into a career in the professional football scene.

Gianni Infantino's first major job saw him become a legal counsel and general secretary for the International Centre of Sports Studies (CIES) in Neuchâtel in Switzerland. His impressive work with this particular company helped him form ties with FIFA, even though he didn't initially get any role in the major footballing body. Infantino bagged a role in UEFA's legal department at the age of 30 and went on to become the director of UEFA's Legal Affairs and Club Licensing Division in 2004.

He went on to become the Deputy General Secretary of UEFA and also the Secretary General of UEFA in 2007 and 2009. He was involved in pioneering the expansion of UEFA European Championship to 24 teams in 2016 and also the conception of the UEFA Nations League.

Gianni Infantino Wife

Gianni Infantino wife name is Leena Al Ashqar for many years. They met when Leena worked in a role at the Lebanese Football Federation and their love blossomed to develop a relationship. Infantino is happily married to Leena since 2001 and the pair also shares four children.

They are proud parents to Shania Infantino, Alessia Infantino, Dhalia Infantino and Sabrina Infantino. Leena is also a businesswoman with a history of working in football at the Lebanese Football Federation. Leena's two children are doing their schooling in Doha, Qatar, where her husband also occasionally spends time and rents a property.

Gianni Infantino Net Worth

As of June 2025, Gianni Infantino net worth is estimated to be around £12 million. The 55-year-old has been working as a top brass for UEFA and FIFA over the last two decades and has been able to rack up his valuation in the process as well. Infantino is being paid pretty handsomely by FIFA for his role as their president and has also accumulated earnings from brand endorsement and other deals over the years.

Interestingly, most of his expenses are also paid for by FIFA as he has a chauffeured car available for him for official events and also paid lodgings. In addition to his salary, Infantino also earns money through bonuses, and smart financial decisions have caused his net worth to soar over the years.

Gianni Infanino Salary

Now that you are aware of the estimated net worth of Infantino, let us take a look at his salary over the years.

When Did Gianni Infantino Become FIFA President?

Gianni Infantino started making connections at FIFA during his time working in higher-up legal roles at UEFA, where he climbed onto the Secretary General post and helped to introduce the Financial Fair Play. In October 2015, he was backed by the UEFA Executive Committe to fight for the role of the president of FIFA. He confirmed his candidacy for the position on October 26, 2015.

Infantino was able to convince the voters with his swaying powers to vote for him. On 26 February, 2016, the 55-year-old was appointed as the 9th president of FIFA for a three-year period. He became the first Italian to hold the presidency of FIFA. He was able to successfully retain his role as FIFA president in 2019 and won the FIFA president elections for the third time in 2023, allowing his stint as FIFA president to be extended for four more years.

Gianni Infantino's Vision For Global Football Development

Gianni Infantino is focused on making football a truly global sport by helping improve the quality of tournament and organizational standards all over the world. The FIFA website describes Infantino's long-term vision to be: “Gianni Infantino’s long-term vision for FIFA is to make football truly global by levelling-up playing and organizational 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.”

Infantino is also determined to make major tournaments like the Club World Cup and FIFA World Cup more accessible to the relatively lower-ranked nations or domestic clubs. As a result, FIFA is planning to hold discussions on potentially expanding the Club World Cup to 48 teams in the 2029 edition to indulge even more clubs to take part in it and make it a truly historic event.

Achievements and Milestones as FIFA President

Gianni Infantino has managed to achieve quite some impressive feats in his career. He is the first Italian to have held the FIFA president and has been successful in holding the position for over 9 years. He currently holds the fourth-longest record as FIFA president and has also been given some prestigious awards in his career.

The 55-year-old was given the Order of Friendship medal by Russian President Vladimir Putin after the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, also gave the FIFA president a special title of ‘Pratama Star of Service’ for his great services in the field of football. Infantino was also given the Diamond of Asia award by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 2023, and this is the most esteemed individual accolade in Asian Football.

Role in Expanding the FIFA World Cup

One of the major accomplishments that Infantino managed after becoming FIFA president in 2016 was an ambitious plan for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. It was announced on 10 January, 2016 that the World Cup would be expanded to a 48-team format from 2026. It was finalized by the FIFA Executive Committee, but it was Infantino who really pushed for it and ensured that this historic decision happened in his tenure as president.

As part of this new format, there will be 12 different groups created to have with four teams. The top two teams from every group would automatically move on to the Round of 32, and eight of the best third-place teams from the 12 groups would move forward to the knockout rounds as well. Moreover, Infantino was also influential in confirming the decision that the 2030 FIFA World Cup will be held in six different countries, which is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

Future Plans

Infantino is currently poised to hold onto his role as the FIFA president until at least 2027, but he has plans to win the FIFA presidency once again in 2027. To do so, he will need to ensure that the 2026 FIFA World Cup goes through smoothly in the USA without any major controversies or hiccups. He also has some interesting plans brewing for the future of Football.

A few years ago, Infantino had also claimed that a discussion was ongoing among FIFA to potentially hold a FIFA World Cup edition every two years, rather than every four years. He had claimed that this might even save Africans from ‘dying in the sea’ and help give more opportunities to those from poor countries. On top of this, Infantino is planning to bring expansions to the Club World Cup and make the FIFA World Cup more accessible for lower-ranked teams as well.