La Liga president Javier Tebas has called on FIFA president Gianni Infantino to step down, saying the global governing body is damaging the sport it oversees.
In an interview with Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, Tebas said Infantino's leadership has been harmful and that his time at the head of FIFA should end. When asked directly whether Infantino should quit, Tebas said: "In my opinion, yes, I think his time is up."
Tebas acknowledged, however, that removing Infantino through FIFA's existing structures is unlikely. He said Infantino holds the support of national federations and that FIFA's election system is "rotten at its core." "There's no opposition candidate, nobody wants to stand just to lose," Tebas said. "He shouldn't stay, but the current state of affairs means he won't leave."
According to the BBC, one of Tebas's specific criticisms involved the postponement of a suspension for United States striker Folarin Balogun during the 2026 World Cup. The 25-year-old escaped a ban for the U.S. side's last-16 match against Belgium following an intervention by President Donald Trump. Tebas said the episode was potentially serious enough to have ended Infantino's tenure. "The suspension of the American player's ban was absolutely serious. They were lucky that Belgium eliminated the USA, because otherwise a case could have arisen that might have cost Infantino his job," Tebas said. "Since Belgium won, they managed to bury the matter. But these things are just the tip of the iceberg."
UEFA criticized FIFA's decision on Balogun at the time, calling it "unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable." UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin did not attend the World Cup final, with FIFA's handling of the suspension cited as a factor in his absence.
Tebas also criticized Infantino's suggestion that the World Cup could one day expand to 64 teams. The 2026 tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States was the first since 1998 to move away from a 32-team format, expanding to 48 nations. According to Al Jazeera, a 64-team tournament would require 128 matches, 24 more than were played in 2026 and double the total under the old 32-team format.
Tebas argued that growing the tournament further would harm domestic leagues and the qualifying competitions that sustain professional football. "It's the national competitions that sustain this sport. 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," he said.
Both UEFA and the Asian Football Confederation have expressed opposition to further expansion. "I don't think it's a good idea for the World Cup itself, and it's not a good idea for our qualifiers either. So I'm not supporting that idea," UEFA's Ceferin said last year, a position the organization has not changed.
Infantino is expected to be re-elected for a fourth term at FIFA's March congress.
