FAR away from the superlatives that sought to present him as a charismatic, elegant and surveyor, among a plethora of glorifying epithets, new FIFA president Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino, just like our own Philip Chiyangwa, has an unenviable task of reforming the beleaguered football governing body.
Both Chiyangwa and Infantino took over football associations ravaged by damaging corruption scandals and a very bad image.
Both their briefs seek to repair and reform their respective associations.
Chiyangwa has, true to his pre-election campaign promises, started in earnest to deliver on key aspects of his manifesto with funding availed for the seemingly perpetually broke Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) while an audit is currently underway. Infantino told the world he would reform FIFA.
That remains to be seen.
However, he is a man who brings youthful exuberance that might be the tonic needed to shake off the bad image FIFA had become associated with under the tutelage of his maverick predecessor, Joseph Blatter.
Infantino holds dual nationality, Swiss and Italian. 
Encouraging is the fact that he is not new to football governance, having been general secretary of Associations (UEFA) since 2009.
On Friday, February 26 2016 Infantino was elected in Zurich and replaces Blatter, whose hometown lies just six miles from that of his compatriot.
Prince Ali of Jordan and Frenchman Jerome Champagne were the other presidential candidates in the vote.

Corruption
Blatter saw his reign come to an end amid allegations of corruption at FIFA and is now serving a reduced six-year ban from the sport.
The Swiss’ punishment arose over payment of two million Swiss francs (£1.3million) to UEFA boss Michel Platini in 2011 that infringed upon FIFA Code of Ethics.
Yet the Blatter shadow continues to loom over Infantino, but the new FIFA leader is keen to shift the spotlight away from the common ground he shares with Blatter, telling Sonntags Blick: “Infantino is Infantino, Blatter is Blatter.
“Sepp Blatter marked an era in FIFA.
“I hope that I will characterise a new era in FIFA.
“I’m my own man. 
“Otherwise I would not have won such a vote.
“But I am still on good terms with Platini.”

The voting process
On November 9 2015, the ad-hoc electoral committee admitted and declared five candidates eligible for election to the office of FIFA president.
The election eventually took place at the Extraordinary FIFA Congress in Zurich last week.  
The candidates admitted and declared were: 
l HRH Prince Ali Al Hussein 
l Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa 
l Jérôme Champagne 
l Gianni Infantino and
l Tokyo Sexwale 
Pursuant to FIFA’s Electoral Regulations and the FIFA Organisation Regulations, the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee conducted integrity checks on the candidates.
This two-step process involved creating detailed reports of risk-relevant information relating to each candidate. The integrity check included a review of corporate records, litigation cases, bankruptcy proceedings, potential regulatory actions taken against the candidate and a review of media reports concerning potential red flags (fraudulent behaviour, match manipulation as well as human rights violations).
Each candidate was then asked to comment on the content of the detailed report produced. The final integrity check reports and the comments submitted by the candidates were provided to the members of the Ad-hoc Electoral Committee and evaluated to determine whether each of the candidates fulfilled the requirements for the presidency as outlined in the FIFA Statutes and Regulations. 
Infantino won the election in the second round with 115 votes, from Asian football chief Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, who received 88 votes.

Electoral fraud
But outspoken Italian Serie A club Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini claims Infantino ‘bought’ votes to the FIFA presidency.
Zamparini cast doubt on whether the election process was fully transparent.
Prior to the election Prince Ali had lobbied for the vote to be conducted using transparent ballot boxes but his request was turned down, prompting furious reactions and claims that the vote was going to be rigged. Zamparini also claimed doubts remain over the rise to power of the second-in-command at European football’s ruling body UEFA.
“The system doesn’t change and the new president of FIFA, the chief of bureaucrats, was part of it all before,” Zamparini was quoted as saying in a video clip on www.mediagol.it.
“If he got elected, it’s only because he bought more votes than the Sheikh (Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa).”
The future
Infantino has pledged to restore the battered image of FIFA.
His manifesto talked about reform.
Titled Taking FIFA Forward, Infantino’s manifesto was based on three key pillars; reform, democracy and participation and football development covering 11 principles.
“FIFA is currently going through the deepest crisis of its over 100-year history,” it stated.
“The image and reputation of the organisation have been severely tarnished and it is imperative that we take positive steps to address this now.
“As FIFA president my main objective will be to turn matters around and, in particular, to put football back at the centre stage of all what FIFA does.
“FIFA must once again become an organisation that we can all be proud of; a credible, trusted and transparent global governing body developing football in all corners of the world.”
Infantino said FIFA should ‘aim in the future’ to channel 50 percent of its revenues back to member associations.
Under his plan, each of the 209 federations would get US$5 million over four years for development projects.
The six regional confederations would get US$40 million. Chiyangwa has already started the reform process in Zimbabwe.
Will Infantino do the same?