*FIFA scribe to earn more than President
*FIFA reforms

A new era seems to have dawned at FIFA with its new President, Gianni Infantino vowing to ensure that politics take the back-burner while football on the pitch becomes the order of the day.

Infantino said: “I will work tirelessly to bring football back to FIFA and FIFA back to football, this is what we have to do. I want football to return to pitches, not the boardroom with all the politics. Our focus must change for the good of the game, the players, fans and coaches are what we should be celebrating.

“I would like to see a big development of football all over the world. I want to see the Caribbean League playing, academies in Africa, kids playing in Oceania. I want to see football growing all over the world and people looking at FIFA as the organisation that helps each country in the world to develop football.

Gianni Infantino

“I want to look in the eyes of kids who are smiling because they have a ball to play with. We can focus on football and develop football everywhere in the world.

“We have to build bridges, not build walls. Football can certainly do that. I want to focus on football. We have had an election but not a war. It was a competition, but not a fight. It was a sporting contest. An election you win, you lose and then life goes on.

“This is what we’ll start to do now in FIFA to work with everyone for the development of football and not to do politics, to speak about divisions, to speak about barriers.”

Meawhile, Infantino will discover that he is to be paid significantly less than predecessor Blatter. Blatter was thought to be paid around $6m.

Infantino’s new salary may be closer to the €3m he was thought to be receiving as general secretary of European federation UEFA.

Infantino’s appointment meant that Blatter will no longer be paid salary or pension contributions though he will ‘keep’ his FIFA Mercedes until after he has exhausted all legal options in seeking to overturn a six-year ethics ban for financial misconduct.

Indeed, Infantino will not be the highest-paid individual at ‘new FIFA’ after a wide-ranging package of reforms was also endorsed by the 209 member associations on Friday.

The new chief executive or secretary-general – the precise title has yet to be defined – will be the top earner. This reflects the governance changes which remove executive functions from the president and enthrones the new CEO as the most powerful man or woman in the world game.

Blatter, who was both president and chief executive, was paid a salary and bonuses, as was secretary-general Jerome Valcke.

Infantino will be paid a flat salary though the new CEO will receive both salary and bonuses. For the time being German Markus Kattner will continue as interim secretary-general as well as being finance director.

He may remain in both functions for some time. Infantino could, in theory, force through his own personal choice for CEO within the next 60 days, before the reform changes take effect. But that would put him on collision course with the lawyers and corporate advisers playing a key role in pushing FIFA down a new structural role.

A standard corporate procedure of drawing up a target profile and then commissioning head-hunters to find the new ceo is then expected to be undertaken.

FIFA REFORMS
Disclosure of salaries

This will happen on an annual basis for the Fifa president, all Fifa council members, the secretary general and relevant chairpersons of independent standing and judicial committees.

Presidents limited to three terms of four years

This applies to the Fifa president, Fifa council members and members of the audit and compliance committee and of the judicial bodies. Sepp Blatter served five terms as Fifa president dating back to 1998.

Separation of political and managerial functions
The elected FIFA council will replace the executive committee and will be responsible for setting the organisation’s overall strategic direction. The general secretariat will oversee the operational and commercial actions needed to implement the strategy.

Promotion of women in football
A minimum of one female representative will be elected as a council member per confederation.

Human rights enshrined in Fifa statutes