Gianni Infantino, despite being advised by one of his FIFA vice presidents, Victor Montagliani, to steer clear of an Under-14 soccer event in the Caribbean, opted to attend a youth tournament organized by the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) in Punta Cana. This move came amidst the global controversy surrounding Infantino’s failed proposal to privatize future World Cup revenues.
Infantino’s Instagram post on Saturday showcased his interactions with political and soccer figures from the Dominican Republic during the event. Montagliani had urged Infantino to skip the tournament to prevent drawing attention away from the games due to the ongoing governance crisis sparked by Infantino’s contentious FIFA Forward Enterprise plan.
FIFA chose not to comment on Montagliani’s request, emphasizing its financial support for regional bodies like the CFU. Montagliani, along with other FIFA vice presidents, including Aleksander Ceferin and Sheik Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, have called for an end to Infantino’s presidency, accusing him of deceit in planning to transfer FIFA’s lucrative commercial activities to external investors without transparency.
Infantino scrapped the controversial project on August 1 following widespread criticism from soccer stakeholders and fans. The FIFA president has refrained from public inquiries since the proposal’s emergence, deflecting questions about his leadership and the privatization plan. Infantino is eyeing re-election for a final term until 2031 at the upcoming FIFA congress in Rabat, Morocco, with the candidacy deadline set for November 18.