Infantino attends CFU meeting despite objection from Concacaf

PUNTA CANTA, Dominican Republic – FIFA president Gianni Infantino has reportedly angered Concacaf president Victor Montagliani by attending a Caribbean Football Union (CFU) meeting over the weekend despite being asked not to.

According to reports, multiple sources attending the CFU meeting said many of the Concacaf members were infuriated by Infantino’s behaviour, particularly as he had been asked to stay away by their president.

Infantino allegedly hijacked the meeting to announce FIFA-funded development projects for the region with millions of dollars that had been delayed for months.

In a letter addressed to Infantino on Friday, Montagliani had asked Infantino “in the name of football to reconsider your attendance”, pointing out his presence would take the spotlight away from a regional Under-14 tournament being held alongside the meeting.

“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,” the letter, which was obtained by multiple media outlets stated.

“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.”

Despite that entreaty, Infantino is understood to have turned up at the resort of Punta Cana with a large FIFA entourage including the secretary general, Mattias Grafström, and Elkhan Mammadov, a staunch ally who is responsible for maintaining good relations with the 211 members in his role as director of member associations.

The FIFA president has come under pressure from other soccer leaders, with Montagliani joining with his counterparts from European governing body UEFA and the Asian Football Confederation to ask for a re-evaluation of the global governing body’s current leadership, saying their trust had been “broken through deception.”

It came after Infantino advanced a proposal branded FIFA Forward Enterprise, which would’ve seen the World Cup welcome private investment, including selling shares to an investment group Thrive Eternal, founded by Josh Kushner.

CMC