La Liga president Javier Tebas has called for FIFA president Gianni Infantino to leave office, accusing the world football governing body’s leadership of making decisions that could harm the future of the sport.
Tebas, in an interview with Italian publication La Gazzetta dello Sport, criticised several FIFA decisions linked to the 2026 World Cup, including mandatory hydration breaks, an extended half-time interval during the final, the handling of United States striker Folarin Balogun’s suspension and proposals to expand future World Cups to 64 teams.
Asked whether Infantino should resign, Tebas said he believed the FIFA president’s tenure had reached its end.
“In my opinion, yes, I think his time is up,” he said.
The La Liga chief argued that Infantino’s continued stay in office was partly due to FIFA’s electoral structure, which he claimed discourages potential challengers from contesting the presidency.
“There’s no opposition candidate, nobody wants to stand just to lose,” Tebas said, adding that while he believed Infantino should leave, the current system made such an outcome unlikely.
Tebas, who was in the United States during the World Cup, said he encountered widespread dissatisfaction with FIFA’s leadership among football stakeholders.
He claimed many people privately criticised Infantino’s decisions but were unwilling to openly challenge the governing body.
“They say it, but then they do nothing,” he said, questioning whether silence amounted to acceptance of decisions he described as damaging to football.
The Spanish football administrator also questioned FIFA’s handling of Balogun’s suspension, after the American forward avoided a ban for his country’s last-16 clash with Belgium.
Tebas described the decision as a serious matter and suggested that a different outcome at the tournament could have created a major controversy for FIFA leadership.
UEFA had also criticised the decision at the time, describing it as unprecedented and difficult to justify. The disagreement reportedly contributed to UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin’s decision not to attend the World Cup final.
Tebas further rejected the idea of increasing the number of teams participating in future World Cups, arguing that the move would place additional pressure on domestic competitions that sustain football’s wider economy.
“Increasing the number of national teams makes no sense,” he said, insisting that national leagues generate employment and remain central to the football industry.
He called for fewer international fixtures and stronger protection for domestic competitions, warning that excessive expansion of international tournaments could affect players and clubs.
Tebas also criticised FIFA’s introduction of mandatory three-minute hydration breaks during all 2026 World Cup matches, claiming the measure was driven more by commercial interests than player welfare.
FIFA had said the breaks were introduced to protect players from extreme weather conditions, but Tebas argued that some stadium conditions did not justify the stoppages.
He also criticised the decision to extend the World Cup final’s half-time interval beyond the traditional 15 minutes to accommodate entertainment performances.
According to Tebas, such decisions showed that FIFA was prioritising its own interests over the broader needs of football.
He maintained that football’s governing structures should focus on protecting clubs, leagues and players rather than introducing policies that, in his view, could weaken the sport’s foundation.
