Infantino defies FIFA vice president, makes appearance in the Caribbean

FIFA boss turns up at event after CONCACAF chief Montagliani asked him to reconsider amid the global football body’s governance crisis.

Published On 23 Aug 202623 Aug 2026

Gianni Infantino has ignored a request from one of his FIFA vice presidents to stay away from an Under‑14 football tournament in the Caribbean, making a rare public appearance amid the controversy surrounding his abandoned proposal to sell future World Cup revenues to private investors.

On Saturday, the FIFA president posted Instagram photos of his meeting with political and football officials from the Dominican Republic, taken on the sidelines of a 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 matches.

Montagliani wrote in an email, which was seen by The Associated Press, “I believe that, given the governance crisis surrounding FIFA caused by your controversial FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal, the media will concentrate on this matter, which would unfortunately detract from the technical focus of the CFU youth competition.”

He added, “Therefore, I respectfully ask you, in the name of football, to reconsider your attendance, as it would unfortunately undermine the technical nature of this important youth development activity.”

FIFA declined to comment on Montagliani’s request but noted that it directly funds regional bodies such as the CFU with up to $5 million from each four‑year World Cup cycle.

Montagliani has joined fellow FIFA vice presidents Aleksander Ceferin of UEFA and Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, president of the Asian Football Confederation, in seeking to curb Infantino’s increasingly executive presidency, now in its 11th year.

They accused Infantino two weeks ago of “deception” for secretly planning, over the past year, to spin off FIFA’s multibillion‑dollar commercial activities into a subsidiary in which 20 % would be owned by investors led by Joshua Kushner, the younger brother of United States President Donald Trump’s son‑in‑law Jared Kushner.

Infantino withdrew the project on August 1 amid widespread backlash from football leaders and fans, and shortly after his chief operating officer, Kevin Lamour of Zurich, published a scathing criticism of the proposal and his leadership style in a statement to the AP. Lamour was dismissed last week.

Caribbean member federations are viewed as potential allies for Infantino to distance himself from CONCACAF leadership, while South American body CONMEBOL has supported him as the best path to securing more 2030 World Cup matches and expanding the tournament from 48 to 64 teams.

The FIFA leader has not faced public questioning since The Times revealed the $20 billion FFE project on July 28, and on Friday in Punta Cana he sidestepped a reporter from Sky News.

When Sky reporter James Matthews asked whether he had betrayed the sport and should resign, Infantino replied, “Thank you so much,” and made light‑hearted remarks about both men being bald.

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