Gianni Infantino told a reporter “I’ll see you at the hairdressers” after he was asked whether he had betrayed football over his aborted World Cup sell-off plan.
The Fifa president was stopped outside a hotel in the Dominican Republic by the Sky News US correspondent, James Matthews, who challenged the under-fire leader of football’s governing body over why he had not resigned, despite calls from across the game for him to step down.
Last week, three continental confederations accused the president of “deception” over his plans to secure private investment in Fifa tournaments, while the European governing body Uefa has threatened a boycott of Fifa competitions having “lost confidence” in his leadership.
Having tracked Infantino to a hotel in the Caribbean country where he has travelled to attend a youth tournament, Matthews, who shares Infantino’s recognisable bald pate, asked the 56-year-old whether he had “betrayed the game of football”, to which came the reply: “You have a nice haircut. Thank you so much.”
As the president walked away, Matthews continued: “Why won’t you resign? Fans, Fifa associations want you to step down. Why won’t you? Have you betrayed the trust of Fifa?”
As he stepped inside a waiting black car, Infantino replied: “I’ll see you at the hairdressers.”
Meanwhile, the Concacaf president Victor Montagliani has asked Infantino to stay away from the youth tournament, saying his presence would overshadow the event. Infantino, who could potentially face a vote of no confidence from world football’s regional powerhouses, is visiting the Dominican Republic this weekend and was reportedly planning to attend a competition organised by the Caribbean Football Union (CFU).
In a letter sent to Infantino on Friday, and seen by Reuters, Montagliani cited the “governance crisis surrounding Fifa” as reason for its president to reconsider attending the CFU U-14 Series event.
“As you may be aware, your proposed attendance has garnered significant media attention,” Montagliani, who is also a vice-president on the Fifa Council, wrote. “…the media will focus on this situation, which will unfortunately significantly take away from the technical nature of the CFU youth competition.
“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.“
Reuters has contacted Fifa for comment.
Infantino was received at Punta Cana by the Dominican Republic’s minister of sports, Kelvin Cruz. “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,” Cruz said in a statement.
Infantino is seeking a fourth term until 2031 but several national associations and key officials have withdrawn support for the Swiss administrator.