Infantino says Rwanda's recovery from genocide inspired first election win

The 52-year-old has been in charge of world football's governing body since 2016.

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With no competition, his re-election was a formality - and it was confirmed during the 73rd Congress in Kigali on Thursday.

Infantino delivered a speech crediting Rwanda's recovery from genocide in 1994 for inspiring his first election win in 2016.

The Swiss claimed he was close to pulling out of the race to replace Sepp Blatter before a visit to Rwanda's genocide memorial.

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"I said, 'Who I am to give up?'" Infantino said. "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 because someone was telling me something," he added. "I stayed, I attended the match, I continued to campaign… I was elected FIFA president."

On his re-election, Infantino continued: "It is an incredible honour and privilege, and a great responsibility.

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"I promise to continue serving FIFA and football around the world.

"To those that love me, and I know there are many, and those who hate me… I love you all."

Infantino confirmed FIFA's income hit record levels between 2019 and 2022.

The former UEFA official promised to reach new levels of revenue by expanding the World Cup and Club World Cup.

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"Revenues rose to a record $7.5billion (to 2022) in a period that was hit by COVID-19. When I arrived, FIFA reserves stood at around $1billion, today they are at almost $4billion," Infantino said.

"We promise new record revenues for the next cycle of $11billion, and the new Club World Cup is not included in that figure, so it could increase by a couple of billion (more)."

Despite his re-election, Infantino is not universally popular and FIFA remains under great scrutiny following decades of controversy.

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The president admitted the organisation must strive for greater transparency and hinted at a salary cap.

He added: "We must improve our regulations and the FIFA statues. We will continue to evolve our good governance principles and look at the transfer system, and maybe have a discussion to improve transparency of transfer fees and salaries.

"It might be necessary to introduce a cap, we have to think how we can do that. We will look at it with all stakeholders and see what we can do."