Despite increasing pressure from the soccer world to resign amid the fallout from the failed FIFA Forward Enterprise venture, FIFA president Gianni Infantino is continuing on with his duties, seemingly unfazed.
On Saturday, Infantino met with member associations in the Caribbean at a FIFA-sponsored youth tournament in the Dominican Republic — despite being asked not to go. The competition, the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Under-14 Challenge Series, is a youth tournament supported by the association’s soccer development program FIFA Forward.
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In a statement released by FIFA on Saturday, Infantino said that he received “a very, very warm welcome” in the D.R. He said that he got to “discuss projects, ideas” with the CFU nations, and seemingly hinted at his own recent controversy.
“It’s important to engage, to have a dialogue, to express views and opinions – a lot (has) been happening in the last few weeks and it’s important that you hear, you listen and you’re able to, also, express what your feelings are. So, I think overall, a positive, very, very happy with all the support I get here,” Infantino said in the statement.
Though normally such a visit would be routine, Infantino’s popularity has taken a significant dip since the president’s plans to sell private investment stakes in the World Cup went public. The project, known as FIFA Forward Enterprise, was scrapped just days after it was first reported.
According to multiple reports, Concacaf president Victor Montagliani wrote to Infantino on Friday asking the embattled FIFA president to reconsider attending the event, saying that his presence will detract from the tournament.
“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, which will unfortunately significantly take away from the technical nature of the CFU youth competition,” Montagliani wrote in the letter, via The Athletic. “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.”
Infantino ignored that request, and made a public appearance anyway. Montagliani is expected to attend the tournament this weekend as well, though it’s unclear if the two will interact.
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Concacaf has been among the confederations that has vocally opposed Infantino’s plan, joining UEFA and AFC in a statement earlier this month to ask Infantino to step down. Montagliani, as the president of Concacaf, was among the six officials who signed the “open letter” to the football world.
Reactions to Infantino’s plan were swift and angry, and multiple FIFA officials have exited in the wake of the plan. Among the most drastic responses is UEFA, who is threatening to boycott future World Cups.
Though some individual federations have already expressed calls for Infantino to resign, more joined in this weekend. On Sunday, a group of Nordic federations — Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland and the Faroe Island — released a statement saying they have “lost confidence” in Infantino and calling for a “comprehensive independent review” of FIFA’s governance.
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Notably, Montagliani, a Canadian-born official who is also a FIFA vice president, is one of the names floated to challenge Infantino at next year’s elections.
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