FIFA president Gianni Infantino has been asked to steer clear of a youth football tournament in the Dominican Republic this weekend by CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani.
In a letter reviewed by the BBC, Montagliani mentioned the “governance crisis involving Fifa” and urged Infantino to rethink his participation in the CFU Under-14 Series event.
The Canadian, who serves as a FIFA vice-president, mentioned that his presence would “regrettably compromise the technical aspect” of the competition.
Infantino received an invitation as a guest of the Dominican Republic, although it is thought the invitation was extended before his contentious Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal, which has endangered his role.
“The media will focus on this situation, which will unfortunately significantly take away from the technical nature of the CFU youth competition,” wrote Montagliani.
“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 received a warm welcome upon arriving in the Caribbean nation, and several CONCACAF countries have supported him to pursue a fourth term as FIFA president.
“We deeply appreciate your visit to the Dominican Republic; without doubt, 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 Dominican Republic’s minister of sports and recreation, Kelvin Cruz, in a statement.
The competition is one among several development initiatives financed by football’s global governing entity through its FIFA Forward programme.
Infantino has endured significant backlash for his effort to sell shares in the World Cup and various tournaments to private investors via his now-abandoned FFE plan.
Several football federations have pulled their backing for the Swiss-Italian official, who faced allegations of breaching trust “through deceit” in a public letter released by UEFA, CONCACAF, and the Asian Football Confederation.
FIFA’s choice to terminate senior executive Kevin Lamour after he criticised Infantino has also faced backlash.
Nonetheless, Infantino continues to have the backing of the South American governing organisation CONMEBOL and CAF, the governing body for Africa.
