Friday, March 18, 2016. (rs gold)Wanda Group chairman Wang Jianlin and Philippe Blatter were at FIFA headquarters on Friday to complete the first commercial deal for President Gianni Infantino, who was elected three weeks ago to succeed the now-banned

Blatter."He is crazy about football," Infantino said of Wang, one of the richest men in China. "It is obviously an important strategic partner for the future."Neither Wang nor Philippe Blatter attended the news conference and no one from Wanda Group was available to comment on the deal.During his uncle's presidency, the Philippe Blatter-led Infront marketing agency won two FIFA contracts: To provide World Cup broadcasting services, and as a shareholder in MATCH Hospitality, which controls corporate seats at World Cup stadiums.

Infront, based in Zug, Switzerland, was bought by Wanda last year.Infantino said the Wanda deal met all of FIFA's stricter, new compliance standards."I am very well aware of the potential situations that can exist when you have partners who may have subsidiaries with commercial relations," he said.FIFA last signed a World Cup sponsor 2 1/2 years ago — Russian energy giant Gazprom.

The wait for more sponsors contributed to a $122 million loss in 2015 that FIFA announced on Thursday.FIFA officials often acknowledged that potential commercial partners were put off by the scandals, and would wait until after the presidential election to sign.