Many  know him as the face of the main draws of UEFA competitions such as the European Championship or the Champions League.

But since Friday Gianni Infantino has in his hands the reins of world football.
The Swiss, of Italian origin, was elected the ninth president of the International Federation of Association Football, FIFA, body goes through perhaps the deepest crisis since it was created in 1904.
"We will restore the image of FIFA"

Gianni Infantino
Infantino won the second round of voting with 115 votes, 88 Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al bahrení Khalifa.
Jordan's Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein received nothing but four votes and the French Champagne Jermoe none.
"We will restore the image of FIFA," Blatter promised nothing more to know the results of the vote.
"I want to be the president of all of you, of the 209 nations. I want to work with all of you and build a new era in which we can put football in the center," he added.
Swiss, polyglot and manager, Infantino has a similar to its predecessor, Sepp Blatter, who in his nearly two decades at the helm of the most popular sport in the world managed to achieve unprecedented levels of diffusion and economic growth profile, but also let grow a culture of favoritism, authoritarianism and corruption.
Blatter could not even be present at the extraordinary congress in Zurich, Switzerland, to be meeting with Michel Platini six-year suspension of all football-related activity for "unfair payment".
The difficult present FIFA is reflected in the absence of both, and the other 20 leaders who for decades have led and controlled the threads of the most popular sport on the planet, involved in corruption scandals jumped in May 2015.
That's why the appointment of a new president, as well as the reforms approved Friday by the 207 delegates who voted at the session of Congress, marks the crossroads from which the body seeks to consolidate efforts to change.
FIFA approves reforms to transform football management
But Infantino is the best person to lead a transformation?
All in the family
Infantino is the current secretary general of the UEFA, the body that monitors the rights of European football, because that came in October 2009.
His link with football, however, goes back in time, almost 30 years earlier.
It was in his hometown, Brig, about 10 kilometers from the town in which Blatter, where he became president of the local team at just 18 years of age born.
A graduate in law, Infantino worked as Secretary General of the International Center for Sports Studies (CIES) at the University of Neuchâtel and joined UEFA in 2000, where he held various legal positions to move up within the organization.
For many fans, his figure is simply to be in charge of moderating the draws of the main UEFA competitions such as the European Championship or the Champions League.
During his career in the UEFA, Infantino has maintained a close relationship with its president, Michel Platini, to the point that only submitted his candidacy for the presidency of FIFA once the suspension hanging over the football legend was confirmed.
It also contributes backing block that initially received European countries.
His figure is inevitably related to the order established in the UEFA and therefore with her older sister, FIFA, the same system that now seeks to transform.
Global football
Many analysts believe that FIFA needs is a change of form, rather than substance.
After all, managing Blatter and his predecessor Joao Havelange, guided football was unprecedented levels of popularity, consolidated by far the most popular sport on the planet.
Infantino based his candidacy at this point in maintaining the growth of football, its globalization around the world, but guaranteed that he would away from the backroom deals that proliferated in the body.
"Something has to be done. It needs to implement reforms," Infantino told the BBC.
"If we do something to restore the image of FIFA and its reputation, and increase the development of football in the world, I do not see a future for FIFA."
"Football will always exist, but the way in which we lived and perceived to FIFA as an organization in recent months can not continue," he said.
Infantino's manifesto is based fundamentally on three pillars: reforms, democracy and participation and development of football.
Among his proposals are:
Allocate 50% of the profits from FIFA to national federations, some US $ 5 M for the development of football in a period of four years.
Earmark US $ 40 million to each of the six regional confederations.
Increasing the number of countries in the final phase of the World Cup from 32 to 40.
Investigate the possibility of organizing a regional World Cup, not just in one or two countries
His critics doubt how can finance their ideas.
Infantino was the manager responsible for the expansion of Euro Cup from 16 to 24 countries, and the pan-European vision of the 2020 edition, which will be played in 13 cities across the continent.
A change that was well received by national federations, but not yet convince the fans, who are considered the most disadvantaged unable to cover the costs of follow their favorite teams and clubs.
FIFA begins a new path.
What remains to be seen is how different is the landscape that will be on the way to a destination that millions of fans hope will be for the benefit of football.
BBC.
Press Release:

Gianni Infantino elected FIFA President.


Gianni Infantino has today been elected as the President of FIFA for the remainder of the current term of office (until 2019) by the Extraordinary FIFA Congress held in Zurich. He was elected as the ninth FIFA President after the second ballot with 115 of 207 total votes. In line with the FIFA Statutes, the mandate of the new FIFA President started after the conclusion of the Congress.


At the beginning of the proceedings, it was confirmed to the Congress that 207 FIFA member associations were entitled to vote (the member associations of Indonesia and Kuwait could not vote due to their respective suspensions). The candidate Tokyo Sexwale withdrew from the election after his address to the Congress.

Earlier in the day, the Extraordinary FIFA Congress approved a set of landmark reforms to FIFA’s governance structure, including improvements to the governance of global football, a clear separation of commercial and political decision-making, greater scrutiny of senior officials, and commitments to women in football and human rights.

Results of the elections for the office of FIFA President:

Ballot 1:

HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein: 27 votes
Shk. Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa: 85 votes
Jérôme Champagne: 7 votes
Gianni Infantino: 88 votes

Ballot 2:

HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein: 4 votes
Shk. Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa: 88 votes
Jérôme Champagne: 0 votes
Gianni Infantino: 115 votes