FIFA president Gianni Infantino says he received a “warm welcome” and held “positive” talks in the Caribbean after being asked to stay away by Concacaf chief Victor Montagliani as the fallout from his abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan continues to rumble on.
Infantino arrived in the Dominican Republic on Friday to meet with representatives from the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and attend an under-14 youth tournament in the country.
His visit came after Montagliani, who also serves as a FIFA vice president, wrote to him on Friday to implore him to stay away, saying his attendance would “undermine” the event.
“I received a very, very warm welcome here in the Dominican Republic – (a) beautiful, beautiful country… on the occasion of a meeting of the Caribbean Football Union, to discuss projects, ideas,” Infantino said in a FIFA statement.
“This meeting of the Presidents of CFU takes place in the environment of (a) U-14 youth tournament in the region, which actually is one of those tournaments that can take place thanks (to) the FIFA Forward programme.
“So, even more so, a reason to be proud to be here. And happy, as well, because 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.”
In a letter seen by The Athletic, Montagliani, who is also a FIFA vice-president and has been touted as a likely candidate to run against Infantino in next year’s election, warned him of the impact of his attendance.
“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 Canadian’s letter read.
“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 Montagliani’s plea, Infantino arrived in the Dominican Republic, a Caribbean island, on Friday and met with local politicians and Jose Deschamps, head of the country’s football association.
The 56-year-old also attended a dinner with representatives from the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), a regional association in the region.
FIFA sources briefed on the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, told The Athletic that Infantino received a warm welcome upon his entry into the country. They also noted that the CFU is using funds from the FIFA Forward programme to put on tournaments such as the annual CFU Challenge U-14 Series.
As well as Infantino, Montagliani is also expected to attend the youth tournament this weekend.
Along with his UEFA and Asian Football Confederation presidential counterparts, Montagliani signed a joint letter calling for Infantino to stand down from his role as FIFA president.
UEFA has also threatened to boycott future FIFA competitions as a consequence of the abandoned FFE plan, which would have seen world soccer’s governing body make stakes in the World Cup available for private investment.
Although the threat of a boycott remains, European teams have continued to name their squads for upcoming tournaments. Head coach Lydia Bedford, for example, named England’s squad for the women’s Under-20 World Cup in September on Saturday.
South American confederation CONMEBOL and the Confederation of African Football have not called for Infantino to resign, instead pointing to the democratic process being allowed to play out at the election in March.