The UEFA secretary general, Gianni Infantino from Switzerland has emerged as the president of the world football governing body, FIFA.

Infantino beat other three contestants in a second round of voting with 115 votes to beat his closest rival, Sheikh Salman Ebrahim al-Khalifa with 88 votes and prince Ali Al -Hussein‎ with four votes while Jerome Champagne did not secure any vote.
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Infantino succeceds Blatter, who had led FIFA since 1998.
Blatter stood down last year and was later banned from football for six years for breaching ethics guidelines.

Infantino is a 45-year-old lawyer from Brig in the Valais region of Switzerland, less than six miles from Blatter’s hometown of Visp.

He only entered the presidential race when it became clear that Michael Platini, boss of European football’s governing body UEFA, would not be allowed to stand.

The election was due to be fought between five candidates, but South African Tokyo Sexwale withdrew before voting began in Zurich.

The first round of voting failed to determine an outright winner, though Infantino led with 88, three more than pre-vote favourite Sheikh Salman.

A simple majority of more than 50 percent – 104 of 207 available votes – was sufficient for victory in round two.

Not since 1974, when Joao Havelange of Brazil beat 13-year incumbent Stanley Rous of England, has a second round been needed.