Bermuda Football Association president Mark Wade has given more details about the recent Caribbean Football Union meeting hijacked by Fifa president Gianni Infantino in the Dominican Republic.

Wade revealed that he was made aware of Infantino’s likely presence only in the hours leading up to the CFU presidents meeting .

“I found out only the day before the meeting that he was attending,” Wade said in an interview on Inside Sports on Power 95

“He was invited by the Dominican Republic at end of July. The Caribbean presidents meeting was taking place and a lot of the Central America presidents were also there for a meeting.

“But Infantino’s presence changed the dynamic significantly. We had planned this strategic meeting and the dynamic changed completely.”

Despite the surprise attendee, Wade said that the meeting quickly brought the chance for top officials in the region to vent their frustration over Infantino’s Fifa Forward Enterprise proposals, which opened up commercial rights to Fifa’s major tournaments to outside private investors.

“Most presidents got over the surprise at being blindsided and were able to take opportunity to have some frank conversations,” Wade said.

“The CFU was able to indicate individually and collectively that good governance has to be a key tenet of our responsibilities.

“Fifa expect good governance from us, they ask us to detail all of our spending and we have to make reports to Fifa Congress. So we expect our leaders to do the same and made it clear to Infantino to his face.”

While there has been a unanimous rejection across the footballing world over the FFE proposal, there is less consensus on the potential re-election of Infantino, with a number of countries indicated their willingness to back him in any future ballot.

“The CFU and Concacaf are emphatic on rejection of FFE and we all agree on that,” Wade said.

“Bermuda has stood at the forefront and will continue to do so while I am president, but you have to position yourself and your country to not be a dissident.

“There are some still supportive of Infantino, and what happens in March next year we will have to see.

“If nobody puts their hand up and runs against him, then he will be elected by acclamation.

“There are rumblings of a candidate or two, and we all know that Uefa and Infantino have not been on the same page since 2015, but it has to be the right candidate.”

Wade was also asked about the decision to hire John Barry Nusum as the new head coach of the senior men’s football team.

Nusum, who served on the staff of previous coach Michael Findlay, will take charge of his first competitive match against Guadeloupe in St Lucia on September 25 and Wade is pleased to have a local coach leading the island’s top players.

“It was always part of our plan to place Bermudians under Michael Findlay with the aim that they would replace him,” Wade said.

“We decided not to give Mr Findlay another cycle and so the timing was now right for JB.

“The conversation with JB was easy, we’re happy to have him on board and we are just trying to wrap up the conversation around his staff.

“It’s disappointing that we are not able to host any games during these international windows, but we have to move on. Hopefully the lights will be done by March and we will have progressed.”

The first match of the new season takes place on Sunday when league champions Dandy Town take on FA Cup winners North Village in the Charity Cup at Bernard Park.

At this time in the season the BFA deals with a shortage in grounds with a number of clubs transitioning from cricket to football

“It’s a BFA decision on grounds being used,” Wade said. “Cup finals can be played at Somerset, St. George’s, national stadium [Flora Duffy Stadium] and Devonshire Rec with the semi-finals spread out a bit more.

“Bernard Park is the only field available this weekend. We had a conversation with PHC, but they were not quite ready.”