Gianni Infantino disregarded a request from a FIFA vice president to refrain from attending an Under-14 soccer event in the Caribbean. Instead, he made a rare public appearance during the global outcry over his unsuccessful attempt to sell future World Cup profits to private investors.
Infantino took to his Instagram account on Saturday to share photos of his meeting with political and soccer officials from the Dominican Republic at a Caribbean Football Union (CFU) youth tournament in the Punta Cana resort. The day before, Victor Montagliani, the Canadian president of CONCACAF, had advised Infantino against attending to prevent overshadowing the soccer matches. Montagliani expressed concerns in an email seen by The Associated Press, citing the governance crisis surrounding FIFA due to the controversial FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal.
FIFA refrained from commenting on Montagliani’s request but highlighted its financial support for regional bodies like the CFU. Montagliani, together with FIFA vice presidents Aleksander Ceferin and Sheik Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, has been advocating for the end of Infantino’s prolonged presidency, now in its 11th year. They accused Infantino of deceit in planning to transfer FIFA’s commercial activities to outside investors, a move that sparked widespread backlash and led to the withdrawal of the project on August 1.
Infantino, who is seeking re-election for a final term through 2031, has not addressed the public since the controversial project was exposed. Despite facing criticism, some federations, like CONMEBOL, support Infantino’s leadership for potential opportunities, such as expanding the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams. Infantino aims to secure his position at the FIFA election congress in Rabat, Morocco, in March 2031, with a deadline set for candidates to enter the race by November 18.