ZURICH (AP) – New FIFA President Gianni Infantino is like the substitute who came off the bench to score the winning goal in a cup final to stun the favorites.
When Infantino stepped on the Zurich stage on Friday to be acclaimed as head of world soccer, he knew his former boss Michel Platini should have been there instead of him.
Had Platini not billed FIFA for 2 million Swiss francs ($2 million) in 2011 and been banned last year from football as a result, the former France captain and not his UEFA No. 2 would be in charge of the global game.
Infantino stunned pre-election favorite Sheikh Salman of Bahrain by beating the Asian confederation president 115-88 in a second round of voting when rivals Prince Ali of Jordan collected four votes and Jerome Champagne failed to garner any.
Infantino, the Inter Milan-supporting UEFA general secretary, was better known as being the face of televised Champions League draws until this campaign. Now the 45-year-old Swiss-Italian has responsibility for the whole of soccer.