FIFA president Gianni Infantino has been dramatically urged by CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani to stay away from a youth football tournament in the Dominican Republic this weekend. The appeal comes at a time when pressure is intensifying on the world governing body's leadership after a series of controversial proposals triggered major unrest within football's power structure.
Pressure is mounting on Infantino's leadership.
According to the BBC, Montagliani pointed to the 'governance crisis surrounding FIFA' before directly asking Infantino to rethink his attendance at the CFU Under-14 Series event. The Canadian, who is also a FIFA vice-president, said he was worried that the presence of the head of world football would become a distraction for the young players taking part.
Infantino had originally been invited to the Caribbean nation as a guest of the Dominican Republic, but it is understood that the invitation was made before his controversial FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal emerged. That project has since been abandoned after a fierce backlash, and it has left Infantino's longer-term future under scrutiny. The president is now facing a difficult task in rebuilding ties with key stakeholders who believe his recent moves have put the stability and integrity of the international game at risk.
There are fears of a media circus.
Montagliani's letter was direct about the likely consequences if Infantino chooses to attend the youth event. 'The media will focus on this situation, which will unfortunately significantly take away from the technical nature of the CFU youth competition,' Montagliani wrote. '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.'
In spite of the warning from the CONCACAF leadership, Infantino received a warm welcome on his arrival in the country and still has some backing within the region. Kelvin Cruz, the Dominican Republic's minister of sports and recreation, released a statement praising the visit, saying: 'We deeply appreciate your visit to the Dominican Republic, without doubt that your presence in our country puts us on the international football radar and opens us great prospects for growth and development of Dominican football.'
The fallout from the FFE proposal continues.
Although the tournament is one of several development initiatives financed through the FIFA Forward programme, it has been overshadowed by serious governance concerns. Infantino has faced strong criticism over his FFE proposal, which sought to sell stakes in the World Cup and other flagship competitions to private investors.
Several football associations have already pulled their support for the Swiss-Italian administrator. UEFA, CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation recently published an open letter accusing Infantino of breaking trust 'through deception.' The matter has now reached a critical stage, with many senior officials believing the president has placed private investment ahead of the collective interests of the member associations he was elected to represent and protect at the highest level.
Internal tensions and split backing have added to the crisis.
The situation has been worsened further by the recent dismissal of senior executive Kevin Lamour, a decision that came after he criticised Infantino's leadership style and the FFE plan. The sacking has been heavily criticised by the UEFA executive and other governing figures as 'deeply troubling.'
Even so, Infantino is not completely isolated on the global stage. He continues to enjoy firm support from South American governing body CONMEBOL and CAF, African football's governing body. This split among the confederations points to a looming struggle over FIFA's future direction.
