Fifa President Gianni Infantino is set to attend the U14 Boys Challenge competition in the Dominican Republic this weekend. This move is reportedly a strategy to divide the European and North American coalition seeking his removal and to lobby for votes from smaller nations in the region.
Infantino's attendance at the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) organised event comes despite senior figures within Concacaf urging him to stay away. Concacaf is currently working with Uefa to remove the Fifa president.
Should Infantino travel, he is expected to come face-to-face with Concacaf president Victor Montagliani, who is widely viewed as his most credible challenger. The Dominican Republic's FA invited Infantino before the World Cup sell-off plan emerged last month.
Concacaf's most successful nation, Mexico, is backing Infantino, defying the confederation. Additionally, Grenada and St Kitts and Nevis, both CFU members, have shown support for Infantino. Panama is also understood to have privately endorsed him, though this has not been publicly confirmed.
Meanwhile, worldwide fans' groups launched a petition on Thursday calling for Infantino's resignation. The petition, which has support from all six Fifa confederations, states that Infantino's plan to sell off the World Cup to private investors was a "betrayal football will never forget."