Infantino shows up for U14 Challenger series despite Concacaf advice
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GENEVA (AP):
Gianni Infantino defied a request from one of FIFA’s vice-presidents to stay away from an under-14 football event in the Caribbean and instead made a rare public appearance amid the global furore surrounding his failed plan to sell future World Cup profits to private investors.
Yesterday, Infantino posted photos on his Instagram account showing the FIFA president meeting political and football officials from the Dominican Republic on the sidelines of a Caribbean Football Union (CFU) youth tournament in the Punta Cana resort area.
On Friday, Infantino was asked not to attend by Victor Montagliani, the Canadian president of Miami-based continental football body Concacaf, to avoid becoming a distraction from the football.
“I believe that considering the governance crisis surrounding FIFA as a result of your controversial FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal, the media will focus on this situation,” Montagliani wrote in an emailed letter seen by The Associated Press, “which will unfortunately significantly take away from the technical nature of the CFU youth competition.”
“As such, I respectfully ask you in the name of football to reconsider your attendance as it will unfortunately undermine the technical nature of this important youth development activity,” Montagliani wrote.
FIFA declined to comment on Montagliani’s request, though it noted that it directly funds regional bodies such as the CFU with up to US$5 million from each four-year World Cup cycle.
Montagliani has aligned with fellow FIFA vice-presidents Aleksander Ceferin of European body UEFA and Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa in seeking to curb Infantino’s increasingly executive-style presidency, now in its 11th year.
They accused Infantino two weeks ago of “deception” over plans developed in secret during the past year to spin off FIFA’s multi-billion-dollar commercial activities to a subsidiary that would be 20 per cent owned by investors led by Joshua Kushner.
Infantino withdrew the project on August 1 amid a global backlash from football leaders and fans, and hours after FIFA’s chief operating officer published a strongly critical statement about the proposal and his leadership style to the AP. The Zurich-based COO, Kevin Lamour, was fired this week.
Caribbean member federations are viewed as potential supporters whom Infantino could seek to win over from their Concacaf leadership. South American governing body Conmebol has backed Infantino as part of its drive to secure additional matches at the 2030 World Cup, which it wants expanded from 48 teams to 64.
Avoiding questions
The FIFA president has not taken questions publicly since the US$20 billion FFE project was revealed on July 28 by British newspaper The Times, and on Friday in Punta Cana he avoided questions from a reporter with British broadcaster Sky News.
Asked by Sky News reporter James Matthews whether he had betrayed the sport and should resign, Infantino replied, “Thank you so much” and made quips about both men being bald.
Infantino is seeking re-election to a fourth and final term through 2031 at FIFA’s election congress next March in Rabat, Morocco. FIFA has set November 18 as the deadline for candidates to enter the race.