Swiss UEFA Secretary General Gianni Infantino has been elected as the new FIFA president, and will immediately begin working for world football’s governing body.

FIFA has been in turmoil over the past year following a wide-spread scandal that involved numerous people within the organisation, leading to criminal investigations and suspensions for numerous individuals, including former president Sepp Blatter.

The FIFA presidential election took place at the Extraordinary FIFA Congress in Zurich on Friday, with five candidates in the running to become president. CAF president Issa Hayatou acted as temporary head of FIFA in the interim.

The 207 FIFA member countries voted in the election, and Infantino emerged as the eventual winner after excellent speeches showed his intent as a potential president.

South African candidate Tokyo Sexwale resigned from the race minutes before the first round of voting.

The election went down to a race between Infantino and Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain, but the Swiss was the victor.

Infantino was elected in the second round of voting with 115 of the 207 votes from FIFA’s national associations, defeating Salman, who had 88.

Infantino has proposed to expand the World Cup to 40 teams, which has been a point of disagreement with his fellow candidates. He also wants to increase the use of video technology in the game.