Gianni Infantino Urged to Skip Youth Tournament in Dominican Republic
Gianni Infantino has been urged to stay away from a youth tournament in the Dominican Republic this weekend, as the political storm around his leadership of Fifa spills onto a development pitch meant for 14-year-olds.
Concacaf president Victor Montagliani, who is also a Fifa vice-president, wrote to Infantino asking him to reconsider his trip to the CFU Under-14 Series, warning that the ongoing "governance crisis surrounding Fifa" would overshadow the football.
In the letter, seen by the BBC, Montagliani said Infantino’s presence would "unfortunately undermine the technical nature" of the competition. The concern is simple: if the Fifa president turns up, the spotlight follows – and it will not be on the kids.
"The media will focus on this situation, which will unfortunately significantly take away from the technical nature of the CFU youth competition," Montagliani wrote, before appealing directly to Infantino’s sense of responsibility. "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 had been invited as a guest of the Dominican Republic, with the invitation understood to have been issued before his explosive Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan surfaced. That proposal, which sought to sell stakes in the World Cup and other competitions to private investors, has since been scrapped – but the fallout has left his position under serious pressure.
Even so, the Fifa president received a warm welcome when he landed in the Caribbean nation. Locally, his visit has been framed as a coup for Dominican football.
"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," said the country’s minister of sports and recreation, Kelvin Cruz, in a statement.
The CFU Under-14 Series itself is part of a wider web of development projects funded by Fifa through its Fifa Forward programme – the very mechanism Infantino has championed as proof of his commitment to spreading the game’s wealth.
Yet the same president now stands accused by a growing number of associations of breaching trust. His FFE proposal triggered fierce backlash, with an open letter from Uefa, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation accusing him of breaking trust "through deception". Several national federations have since withdrawn their support for the Swiss-Italian administrator.
Tensions have been heightened by Fifa’s decision to dismiss senior executive Kevin Lamour after he criticised Infantino’s handling of the FFE plan. That move has drawn further criticism and deepened concerns over governance and internal dissent at the organisation.
Despite the revolt in parts of Europe, North and Central America, and Asia, Infantino is not isolated. He still enjoys the backing of Conmebol, the South American governing body, and Caf, which represents African football.
So a youth tournament in the Caribbean, designed to nurture the next generation, has become another stage for a much bigger question: can Infantino ride out the crisis that now follows him wherever he goes?
