Gianni Infantino Urged to Skip CFU Under-14 Series Amid Governance Crisis

Gianni Infantino has been urged to stay away from a youth football tournament in the Dominican Republic this weekend, as the storm around his leadership of Fifa spills onto the touchline of an under-14 event.

Concacaf president Victor Montagliani, who is also a Fifa vice-president, wrote to Infantino asking him to reconsider attending the CFU Under-14 Series, warning that the "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 Canadian administrator stressed that media attention would inevitably centre on the Fifa president’s troubles rather than the development of young players.

"The media will focus on this situation, which will unfortunately significantly take away from the technical nature of the CFU youth competition," he 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."

Infantino had been invited as a guest of the Dominican Republic, with that invitation understood to have been issued before his contentious Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal exploded into public view and placed his position under real pressure.

The welcome on the ground in the Caribbean, though, has been warm. Infantino was well received on arrival, and several Concacaf nations have publicly backed him to continue for a fourth term as Fifa president.

"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 is one of a series of development projects funded by world football’s governing body through its Fifa Forward programme, the very platform Infantino has often used to showcase his vision for global growth.

That vision has been badly shaken. Infantino has faced intense criticism over his attempt to sell off stakes in the World Cup and other competitions to private investors via the now-abandoned FFE project. The backlash has been fierce and coordinated.

Several national associations have withdrawn their support for the Swiss-Italian, who was accused of breaking trust "through deception" in an open letter signed by Uefa, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation. The fallout deepened when Fifa dismissed senior executive Kevin Lamour after he criticised Infantino, a decision that has drawn further condemnation.

Yet the Fifa president is not isolated everywhere. He still enjoys the backing of Conmebol, South America’s governing body, and Caf, which oversees African football.

So a youth tournament in the Caribbean, meant to be about raw talent and quiet development, has become the latest stage on which the future of the game’s most powerful figure is being contested.