Infantino to continue as FIFA president for 4 more years

Gianni Infantino is getting four more years in charge of FIFA after no candidate stepped up to challenge him.

The soccer’s governing body said Thursday the 52-year-old Swiss lawyer was the only person to enter the race by the time the deadline passed overnight — exactly four months before election day on March 16 in Kigali, Rwanda.

Infantino won a five-candidate race in 2016 to replace Sepp Blatter and was re-elected unopposed in 2019.

He’s now set to stay in the job beyond the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Infantino’s upcoming re-election to the $3 million-per-year job may not be his final term in office.

FIFA rules allow him to run again to stay in power for another World Cup cycle until 2031.

A quirk of FIFA’s statutes means the first three years of Infantino’s presidency — when he completed an unfinished term started by Blatter — does not count against the 12-year limit agreed to in reforms passed during a prolonged corruption crisis before his first election.