Your Time’s Up, Resign – La Liga Boss Tells Infantino

La Liga president Javier Tebas has called on FIFA president Gianni Infantino to step down, accusing football’s world governing body of “destroying the football industry.”

Speaking to Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, Tebas said when asked directly whether Infantino should quit, “In my opinion, yes, I think his time is up.”

He acknowledged, however, that Infantino retains the backing of national federations and is likely to secure a fourth term at FIFA’s congress in March, describing the organisation’s election system as “rotten at its core.”

“There’s no opposition candidate, nobody wants to stand just to lose,” he said.

“He shouldn’t stay, but the current state of affairs means he won’t leave,” he added.

Tebas, who was in the United States to watch Spain win the 2026 World Cup, said widespread frustration with Infantino among football insiders had gone unspoken.

“These past few days here in America, I’ve heard many people who are against Infantino, who disagree with what he’s doing,” he said.

“They say it, but then they do nothing. I don’t know what’s worse, the silence or the complicity, because those who stay silent are perfectly aware of the damage football is suffering,” he added.

He suggested Infantino came closer to real jeopardy than is widely appreciated over FIFA’s handling of USA striker Folarin Balogun’s suspension, which was lifted ahead of the last-16 tie against Belgium following an intervention from US President Donald Trump – a decision UEFA labelled “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable” at the time, and one that contributed to UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin skipping the World Cup final.

“The suspension of the American player’s ban was absolutely serious,” Tebas said. “They were lucky that Belgium eliminated the USA, because otherwise a case could have arisen that might have cost Infantino his job. Since Belgium won, they managed to bury the matter. But these things are just the tip of the iceberg.”

Tebas also criticised suggestions that a future World Cup could expand to 64 teams, an idea Infantino floated during this year’s tournament.

“Not everything can revolve around the World Cup,” he said. “Increasing the number of national teams makes no sense.

“The football industry isn’t just the World Cup. 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.

“Are the best players there? Clearly, but they are also in our leagues. We need fewer international matches and more protection for national football, at all levels. They don’t realise they are making irresponsible decisions,” he said.

He took particular aim at FIFA’s mandatory three-minute hydration breaks, introduced for all World Cup matches in the US, Mexico and Canada regardless of conditions – a measure FIFA presented as a player welfare commitment but which critics say has mainly benefited broadcasters through additional advertising time.

“Hydration breaks are a lie,” Tebas said. “We have them in La Liga, but only 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.”

He extended the criticism to the World Cup final’s extended half-time show, which featured Madonna, BTS, Shakira and Justin Bieber and stretched the usual 15-minute interval to 27 minutes and 22 seconds.

“FIFA arranges things as it pleases, for what it wants, for its own interests, certainly not for football,” Tebas said.

“So, if they need a 27-minute half-time break, they’ll have it. It’s proof that we are governed by an institution that does and decides what it wants, when it wants, following only its own interests without considering the rest of football. And in many cases, it acts to the detriment of football,” he said.