FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, has said that Arsene Wenger is an ‘icon’ of the club and admitted managing Arsenal is not one of the challenges he has to face.
“Arsene Wenger is an icon of Arsenal,” Infantino said. “Even his first name is Arsene. It’s linked for eternity.
“I’m very happy I have to deal with many other challenges, but not with managing Arsenal.
“It will be up to the managers of Arsenal to decide what the future of Arsenal will be.
“But what Arsene Wenger has done in Arsenal throughout history is certainly… he’s a big personality of football.
“He’s one of the football legends.”
Infantino was elected as FIFA president in 2016 after Sepp Blatter’s resignation as the world’s football governing body was hit by crisis after crisis, mostly of their own making.
He began working with UEFA in 2000 before being appointed as the Director of UEFA’s Legal Affairs and Club Licensing Division in January 2004.
From there, he moved on to become Deputy General Secretary of UEFA in 2007 then Secretary General of UEFA in October 2009.
Infantino was responsible for increasing the Euros to 24 teams. One of his pledges before being given the FIFA presidency was to increase the World Cup to 40 teams.
He will hold his position for a minimum of three years.