Gianni Infantino ignored a request from a FIFA vice president to abstain from attending an Under-14 soccer event in the Caribbean. Instead, he made a rare public appearance during the midst of the controversy surrounding his failed proposal to sell future World Cup profits to private investors.
On Saturday, Infantino shared images on his Instagram account of his meeting with political and soccer dignitaries from the Dominican Republic at the sidelines of a Caribbean Football Union (CFU) youth tournament held at the Punta Cana resort.
The day before, Victor Montagliani, the president of CONCACAF, advised Infantino against attending to prevent diverting media attention from the soccer matches. Montagliani expressed concerns that the focus on Infantino’s governance crisis due to the FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal would overshadow the technical aspects of the CFU youth competition.
FIFA chose not to respond to Montagliani’s request but highlighted its financial support for regional bodies like the CFU with up to $5 million US per World Cup cycle.
Montagliani, along with other FIFA vice presidents, criticized Infantino for allegedly planning to transfer FIFA’s commercial activities to investors without transparency. This development led to the withdrawal of the project on August 1 following widespread backlash.
While Caribbean federations may sway their support towards Infantino, CONMEBOL from South America has endorsed him as the preferred route to hosting an expanded 2030 World Cup.
Infantino has avoided public questioning since the controversy emerged and declined to respond to inquiries about his resignation during an encounter with a Sky News reporter in Punta Cana.
The FIFA president is eyeing re-election for his final term up to 2031 at the upcoming FIFA election congress in Rabat, Morocco, with a deadline set for potential candidates to enter the race by November 18.
