FIFA Chief Infantino Defies Vice President, Appears in Caribbean
Theo Al Jazeera English
FIFA President Gianni Infantino ignored a request from vice president Victor Montagliani to skip a Caribbean youth tournament, appearing in the Dominican Republic despite FIFA's governance crisis over a failed World Cup investment plan. He faces mounting opposition from senior officials while seeking re-election.
Gianni Infantino defied a request from one of FIFA's vice presidents not to attend a U14 football tournament in the Caribbean, instead making a rare public appearance amid a global controversy over the failed plan to sell future World Cup profits to private investors.
The FIFA president posted photos on Instagram on Saturday showing him meeting with political and football officials from the Dominican Republic on the sidelines of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) youth tournament at the Punta Cana resort.
On Friday, Infantino was asked not to attend by Victor Montagliani, the Canadian president of the Miami-based Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), to avoid distracting from the football matches.
“I believe that given the governance crisis surrounding FIFA due to your controversial FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal, the media will focus on this situation,” Montagliani wrote in an email reviewed by the Associated Press, “which will unfortunately significantly diminish the technical nature of the CFU youth tournament.”
“Therefore, I respectfully request that you consider not attending for the sake of football's integrity, as it would undermine the technical essence of this important youth development activity,” Montagliani wrote.
FIFA declined to comment on Montagliani's request but noted that it directly funds regional bodies like the CFU up to $5 million for each four-year World Cup cycle.
Montagliani, along with other FIFA vice presidents Aleksander Ceferin of UEFA and Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, have sought to end what they see as the increasingly autocratic presidency of Infantino, now in its 11th year.
Two weeks ago, they accused Infantino of “deception” for secretly planning over the past year to spin off FIFA's multi-billion-dollar commercial operations into a subsidiary with 20% owned by investors, led by Joshua Kushner, brother of Jared Kushner, son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Infantino withdrew the project on August 1 amid a global backlash from football leaders and fans, and hours after his own chief operating officer released a statement strongly criticizing the proposal and his leadership style in a press release sent to AP. The Zurich-based COO Kevin Lamour was dismissed last week.
Caribbean member associations are seen as a potential source of support for Infantino to split away from CONCACAF leadership. South American football confederation CONMEBOL has backed Infantino as the best path to hosting more matches at the 2030 World Cup, which they want to expand from 48 to 64 teams.
The FIFA leader has not answered public questions since the $20 billion FFE project was revealed by The Times (UK) on July 28, and on Friday at Punta Cana he avoided reporters from British broadcaster Sky News.
When Sky reporter James Matthews asked if he had betrayed the sport and should resign, Infantino replied, “Thank you very much” and joked that both of them were bald.
Infantino aims to be re-elected for a fourth and final term until 2031 at the FIFA elective congress in March 2027 in Rabat, Morocco. FIFA has set a deadline of November 18 for candidates wishing to enter the race.
