Sepp Blatter said newly elected FIFA president Gianni Infantino is a worthy successor to continue his work.
Blatter praised Infantino’s “experience, expertise, strategic and diplomatic skills” in a statement.
Blatter said the 45-year-old UEFA general secretary “has all the qualities to continue my work and to stabilise FIFA again” after a corruption crisis.
Infantino will complete the rest of Blatter’s presidential term, serving through May 2019.
The 79-year-old official was banned by the FIFA ethics committees along with Infantino’s now former boss, UEFA president Michel Platini.
Infantino, a lawyer and sports administrator who joined European football’s governing body in 2000 and rose through the ranks, became FIFA’s first new president in 18 years.
Blatter, who is serving a six-year ban from football, announced his resignation last June following a corruption scandal that engulfed the organisation in May.
The warm congratulations is a notable change of tone for Blatter, who early in the campaign sniped at Infantino despite the fact they come from neighboring Swiss villages. Infantino was born in Brig, Switzerland, six miles from Blatter’s hometown of Visp.
Infantino was only 5-years-old when Blatter joined FIFA in 1975.
Infantino will become the ninth president of the sport’s governing body. Friday’s vote marked the first time the FIFA presidential election had a second ballot since 1974.
