La Liga president Javier Tebas has urged Fifa chief Gianni Infantino to resign, accusing the world governing body of “destroying the football industry”.
Speaking to Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport, external, the head of Spain’s top division criticised World Cup hydration breaks, the extended half-time show in the final, the deferment of a ban for United States forward Folarin Balogun, and the prospect of a 64-team summer tournament.
Asked if Infantino should step aside, Tebas replied that, in his view, the Fifa president’s time is up.
He added that, despite this, the 56-year-old still enjoys backing from national federations and argued Fifa’s electoral process is “rotten at its core”.
Tebas said there is no viable challenger because “nobody wants to stand just to lose”.
He maintained Infantino should not remain in post, but believes the current landscape means he will not depart.
Tebas was in the United States as Spain lifted the 2026 World Cup.
He said that over recent days in America he had heard many privately voice opposition to Infantino and his decisions.
According to Tebas, critics speak out behind the scenes but fail to act, which he described as either silence or complicity, despite awareness of the harm done to the sport.
Infantino is widely expected to secure a fourth term at Fifa’s congress in March, though Tebas argued the controversy surrounding Balogun could have imperiled his position.
The 25-year-old US forward avoided suspension for the last-16 match against Belgium after an intervention from US President Donald Trump.
Tebas called the shelving of the ban extremely serious and suggested that, had the USA not been eliminated by Belgium, the fallout might have threatened Infantino’s job.
He added that Belgium’s win allowed the issue to be swept aside, calling it just one example of deeper problems.
Uefa criticised Fifa’s move at the time as “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable”, a decision that also contributed to Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin skipping the World Cup final.
During the tournament, Infantino floated the idea of a 64-team global competition, a proposal Tebas rejected, insisting the World Cup cannot be the centre of everything.
He argued expanding national teams is illogical and that the sport is sustained by domestic leagues, not a month-long event featuring a fraction of players.
Tebas warned that prioritising the World Cup endangers an industry supporting tens of thousands of jobs, and said Fifa is making irresponsible choices.
He added that while the game’s elite do feature at the World Cup, they also compete weekly in national leagues, which he believes require greater protection and fewer international fixtures.
Fifa introduced mandatory three-minute hydration breaks at the World Cup for all matches in the United States, Mexico and Canada, regardless of conditions, citing player welfare.
Critics countered that broadcasters used the pauses to profit from additional advertising.
Separately, a star-studded half-time show at the World Cup final featuring Madonna, BTS, Shakira and Justin Bieber extended the interval to 27 minutes and 22 seconds, well beyond the usual 15 minutes.
Tebas said Fifa structures events to suit its own interests, suggesting that if a 27-minute break is desired, it will be implemented regardless of footballing considerations.
He dismissed the hydration breaks as disingenuous, noting La Liga only uses them in genuinely hot conditions.
Citing air-conditioned venues in Dallas, Los Angeles and Atlanta—where he said he needed a jumper in the stands—Tebas argued the stoppages were primarily for advertising.
He concluded that the sport is being run by an organisation that acts unilaterally in its own interests, often to football’s detriment.
BBC Sport has asked Fifa for a response.