Kathmandu— FIFA President Gianni Infantino attended a Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Under-14 soccer event in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, on Saturday, despite a direct appeal from CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani to postpone his visit. The move comes as Infantino faces increasing scrutiny and opposition from within FIFA following the collapse of his plan to sell future World Cup profits to private investors. Montagliani argued that Infantino’s presence would distract from the youth competition, while sources indicate a growing effort by dissenting vice presidents to challenge Infantino's leadership.

Internal Opposition Mounts

Victor Montagliani, a FIFA vice president and head of CONCACAF, sent an email to Infantino requesting he reconsider attending the CFU youth tournament. Montagliani expressed concern that media attention would focus on the ongoing “governance crisis” surrounding FIFA’s failed ‘FIFA Forward Enterprise’ proposal rather than the young players. He stated his request was made “in the name of football,” hoping to preserve the technical focus of the event. Other FIFA vice presidents, including Aleksander Ceferin of UEFA and Sheik Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of the Asian Football Confederation, have also voiced opposition to Infantino’s leadership.

Failed Proposal Sparks Criticism

Two weeks prior, the three FIFA vice presidents accused Infantino of “deception” for secretly planning to spin off FIFA’s commercial activities into a subsidiary with 20% ownership by investors led by Joshua Kushner. The $20 billion project, revealed on July 28th by The Times, faced widespread backlash from soccer leaders and fans, leading Infantino to withdraw the proposal on August 1st. Kevin Lamour, FIFA’s chief operating officer who publicly criticized both the plan and Infantino's leadership style, was subsequently fired this week.

Seeking Support in the Caribbean

FIFA directly funds regional bodies like the CFU with up to $5 million from each four-year World Cup cycle. Analysts suggest that Infantino’s visit to the Caribbean is an attempt to garner support from member federations within CONCACAF, potentially peeling them away from Montagliani's leadership. Similarly, South American body CONMEBOL has publicly backed Infantino, seeing his continued presidency as beneficial for their bid to host more games at a potential 64-team expanded 2030 World Cup.

Avoiding Scrutiny

Since the details of the ‘FFE’ project were revealed, Infantino has avoided taking questions from the media. During his time in Punta Cana on Friday, he evaded a reporter from Sky News who questioned him about accusations of betrayal and calls for his resignation. Infantino responded with quips about both himself and the reporter being bald.

Infantino is seeking re-election for a fourth term at the FIFA election congress next March in Rabat, Morocco, with November 18th set as the deadline for potential candidates to enter the race.

(With inputs from AP)

Originally published on abcnews.com.np.