Gianni Infantino disregarded a request from FIFA vice president Victor Montagliani to refrain from attending an Under-14 soccer event in the Caribbean. Instead, he made a rare public appearance during the controversy surrounding his failed proposal to sell future World Cup profits to private investors. Infantino shared photos on his Instagram account on Saturday, showing him meeting with political and soccer officials from the Dominican Republic at a Caribbean Football Union (CFU) youth tournament in Punta Cana.
Montagliani, the Canadian president of CONCACAF, had urged Infantino not to attend to avoid diverting attention from the soccer games. He expressed concerns in an email about the governance crisis surrounding FIFA due to Infantino’s controversial FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal, which could overshadow the CFU youth competition.
FIFA did not provide a comment on Montagliani’s request but highlighted its financial support to regional bodies like the CFU. Montagliani, along with other FIFA vice presidents, including Aleksander Ceferin and Sheik Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, have been pushing to end Infantino’s presidency, which they claim has been marred by deception. They accused Infantino of secretly planning to transfer FIFA’s commercial activities to outside investors, a plan that was later withdrawn amidst backlash.
Infantino, who has not publicly addressed questions since the proposal’s withdrawal, aims to secure a fourth term as FIFA president through 2031. The election congress is scheduled for March in Rabat, Morocco, with a deadline set for November for potential candidates to enter the race.