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August 23 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino, despite being asked to stay away, turned up in the Dominican Republic this weekend, ostensibly for the final of U14 CFU boys tournament, but he didn’t stay for a single game. Infantino turned up after the semi-finals had been played on Friday, and left the following evening before the final on Sunday, spending about 26 hours on the island that saw him spend more than 23 hours on his private jet, covering about 11,820 miles. Even by his standards it has an extravagance that raises yet more governance questions over his leadership of FIFA, and in particular his financial propriety. Infantino didn’t travel on his own but took with him his member association hit squad of general secretary Mattias Grafstrom, and director of member associations Elkhan Mammadov, as well as Gelson Fernandes, the member associations boss who wields power over Africa having cut his teeth (or perhaps sharpened them) in the Caribbean. Infantino also had his own Instagram team in tow, covering every obsequious handshake and hug, but able to show a single ball being kicked in competition – they weren’t there long enough for that. Having initially been invited to the U15 competition on July 31 by the Dominican Republic FA, just before the scandal surrounding Infantino’s brazen attempt to sell off all of FIFA’s commercial rights to a private equity backed new company – FIFA Forward Enterprises – he unexpectedly took up the invitation at the end of last week. Concacaf president Victor Montagliani, citing the FIFA governance crisis and the adverse press attention his attendance would bring to what is essentially a Caribbean youth development tournament, wrote to Infantino at asking him: “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.” It made no difference to Infantino who has barely been seen outside his comfort zone and away from his biggest personal supporters Qatar and Morocco. The brouhaha and media attention created by his entourage – and encouraged by his Instagram crew – couldn’t fail to go unnoticed by the U14 players who will undoubtedly wonder why they weren’t good enough to warrant the presence of the FIFA president at their games. This is the second time in two years that Infantino has snubbed the Caribbean when it comes to tournament football. In 2024 he chose to attend a Padel event in Doha, Qatar, rather than the final of the The impression given by the president and his henchmen (it is an all-male assault crew), is that the Caribbean is only good for its votes. The Caribbean presidents must now decide if they believe that is all they really are good for – a vote and to pay homage to a leader who is deeply mired in allegations of corruption and abuse of power for potentially illegal self-profit. Infantino’s big day out, at FIFA’s expense Infantino began his trip on his private jet – part of Qatar’s sponsorship of FIFA – in Doha on August 21. He flew 3,615 miles to Rabat, Morocco, before heading off almost immediately on a 3,910 mile flight to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. 26 hours later he was back on his jet for a 4,394 mile trip to Paris. In total it was about 23 hours of flying time and a total of 11,820 miles. A chunky carbon footprint of about 47 metric tons of CO₂. In Paris Infantino was caught – on Instagram by his travelling crew – hobnobbing with Ronaldo and shaking hands with French president Emanuel Macron at the esports World Cup finals. Political gold or yet another miscalculation? Infantino and his staff lobbied hard for Caribbean support – both individually and collectively, according to one insider. A number of FA presidents have commented that they found the pressure they were put under offensive, and objected to the timing of his political manoeuvring at what was a youth event with a different set of priorities than ensuring the survival of embattled and discredited FIFA president. At the centre of the ‘offers’ to member association to sweeten their support was the promise that development projects that had got stuck in the FIFA Forward development hopper would be unblocked to fast-track approval. It is a crude attempt at blackmail and added to the offense and disrespect of the Caribbean MAs – the grant money the federations have applied for is already theirs by right – not the FIFA president or FIFA staff’s benevolent gift for good old boys. Time to face the music? Concacaf president Victor Montagliani told his federation membership that for the sake of good governance Infantino must submit to an independent and forensic review of the FIFA Football Enterprise proposal. Without that review it looks impossible for FIFA to move forward. Infantino has said there will be no review. He is also refusing to call an emergency FIFA Council meeting, despite the refusal by the three most influential confederations – AFC, Concacaf and UEFA – to get involved in any governance or committee work until an emergency meeting is called. They aren’t backing down and UEFA has even threatened a boycott from FIFA competitions. They are already discussing their own competitions with the possibility of an expanded inter-confederation Nations League in the early stages of discussion. But Infantino isn’t backing down either and his heavy handed attempts to bully member associations into line, by withholding grant money they are entitled to, isn’t winning him friends. The AFC, Concacaf and UEFA have already guaranteed that they would speed up the grant process and that previously taken decisions, like hosting awards, would not be rolled back. Infantino looks increasingly isolated and politically toxic as he refuses to allow the independent audit into the FFE proposal. Without it and the transparency it would bring, he and his political stormtroopers, now led by the deeply unpopular Mammadov, look increasingly like dead men walking. Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]