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04/30 15:59 CDT FIFA leader Infantino starts race for re-election in 2027 vote hosted by African ally Morocco FIFA leader Infantino starts race for re-election in 2027 vote hosted by African ally Morocco By ANNE M. PETERSON and GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writers VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) --- The FIFA presidential vote in 2027 that is set to give Gianni Infantino a final four-year term in office will be hosted by Morocco --- the soccer body's second straight election meeting in Africa where he has built strong political ties. Infantino on Thursday announced the 2030 World Cup co-host will stage a March 18 election meeting of FIFA's 211 member federations who currently figure to re-elect him unopposed for a third time since his first win in a five-candidate contest in 2016. "I am honored and humbled at the same time," Infantino told global soccer leaders before confirming his inevitable candidacy for the election. FIFA's financial security, with multi-billion dollar reserves boosted by a high-revenue 2026 World Cup in North America, allows paying at least $8 million during this presidential term to each voting member federation. Infantino was paid more than $6 million by FIFA last year in a job that has given him a global profile as a regular visitor with U.S. President Donald Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia, which will host the 2034 World Cup. The 2027 FIFA Congress had seemed likely to be Europe or Oceania's turn to host after a run of annual meetings in Canada, Paraguay, Thailand, Rwanda and Qatar. FIFA chose Rwandan capital Kigali for its 2023 election won by acclaim by Infantino, who has allied himself to the Confederation of African Football under the leadership of South African mining billionaire Patrice Motsepe since 2021. That CAF election also was in Morocco which is now Africa's main soccer power. African voters --- now 54 among the 211 members --- have for decades been seen as decisive in FIFA presidential elections. CAF and Motsepe already pledged support to Infantino in Vancouver this week, even before the election period was formally opened Thursday at the FIFA Congress.

Morocco's rise Morocco has been a big winner during Infantino's presidency and will host the 2027 FIFA Congress in Rabat, where the soccer body opened its African regional office last year. The north African nation will co-host the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal and hopes to stage the final at a 115,000-capacity stadium being built in Casablanca. Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu Stadium also is a contender. Hosting a FIFA gathering of officials, business partners and media next year shapes as a showcase for Moroccan soccer and its influential leader Fouzi Lekjaa, who also is a government budget minister appointed by King Mohammed VI. Lekjaa is Motsepe's most senior vice president at CAF and sits on the Infantino-chaired, 37-member FIFA Council that approves strategy for the soccer body. During Lekjaa's 12-year presidency of the Moroccan soccer federation, the men's team made World Cup history in 2022 by becoming the first African team to reach the semifinals. That fueled Morocco's campaign to join the Spain-Portugal project for hosting the World Cup that was long expected to go to Europe. Morocco had lost several hosting contests since the 1990s including for the 2026 edition as the only rival to the winning bid from the United States, Canada and Mexico. Morocco also has a five-year deal with FIFA to host the annual Under-17 Women's World Cup. Morocco hosted the men's African Cup of Nations this year that ended in a chaotic and controversial final. Senegal won the title on the field, Morocco was awarded it by a CAF appeal panel and the result will be settled by Senegal's appeal pending at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.

FIFA term limits Infantino's presidency is expected to stretch to 15 years when he will reach his statutory term limit in 2031. When Infantino was elected in February 2016 in Zurich, FIFA members also approved a 12-year presidential limit on a slate of governance reforms forced by U.S. federal investigations of corruption implicating senior soccer officials worldwide. Infantino's initial three-year mandate through 2019 --- completing the term of Sepp Blatter who was ousted in the fallout from the investigations --- eventually was decided not to count toward the 12-year limit. His first re-election win was in Paris. ___ Dunbar contributed from Geneva ___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

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