La Liga president Javier Tebas has accused Fifa of “destroying the football industry” and called for its president, Gianni Infantino, to step down. Speaking after the 2026 World Cup, amid suggestions the 2030 tournament could expand from 48 to 64 teams, Tebas criticised the direction of world football's governing body.
Tebas criticises expansion plans
“Increasing the number of national teams makes no sense,” Tebas told Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. “The football industry is not just the World Cup, which is the most important event. Not everything can revolve around the World Cup. It is national competitions that support this sport.”
He added: “They are destroying the football industry, which generates tens of thousands of jobs, for an event that lasts 40 days and involves a minority of players. We need fewer national teams and more protection for national football, at all levels. They don’t realise, they are making irresponsible decisions.”
Call for Infantino to resign
Tebas said Infantino should leave his role. “His time is up. However, he has the support of the system, of the federations, so there is not much more to add, is there? There is no opposition candidate, nobody wants to stand just to lose. This is the system and it is a system rotten at its core.”
He continued: “These past few days here in America I have heard many people who are against Infantino, who disagree with what he does. They say it, but then they do nothing. I don’t know if silence or complicity is worse, because those who are silent are perfectly aware of the damage football is suffering.”
Balogun affair and half-time breaks
Infantino, in office since 2016, is expected to be re-elected for a fourth term in March 2027. Tebas suggested the Folarin Balogun incident could have cost Infantino his job if the USA had lost to Belgium earlier in the tournament. The US striker’s one-match ban was lifted by Fifa’s disciplinary committee after a phone call from Donald Trump to Infantino, allowing Balogun to play against Belgium. Infantino maintained the decision was independent.
Tebas said: “The suspension of the American player’s ban was absolutely serious; they were lucky Belgium eliminated the USA because a case could have arisen that might have cost Infantino his job. Since Belgium won, they managed to bury the matter.”
He also criticised extended half-time breaks during the World Cup: “Hydration breaks are a lie. We have them in La Liga, but when it’s genuinely hot. Here, the pitches in Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta had air conditioning; I had to put on a jumper in the stands. It was a lie, a break for advertising.”
Fifa has been approached for comment.
