La Liga chief warns FIFA is destroying football industry jobs

La Liga president Javier Tebas has called for FIFA president Gianni Infantino to step down. The Spanish league chief stated that Infantino's "time is up" and accused the governing body of actively dismantling the sport's economic foundation.

The core of Tebas's argument, laid out in an interview with an Italian newspaper, is that FIFA is sacrificing the European domestic game to maximise short-term broadcasting revenues from its flagship tournament. He argued that national competitions "sustain this sport" and generate "tens of thousands of jobs", but are being structurally undermined by a global event that lasts just 40 days and features a minority of players.

To illustrate his claim that FIFA acts "for its own interests, certainly not for football", Tebas pointed to the overt commercialisation of this summer's World Cup. He noted that the final's half-time interval was extended to 27 minutes and 22 seconds to accommodate performances by Madonna, BTS, Shakira and Justin Bieber. He also dismissed mandatory three-minute hydration breaks in the United States, Mexico and Canada as a "lie" designed solely to insert advertising, pointing out that stadiums had air conditioning and he needed a jumper in the stands.

Tebas warned that this economic extraction will worsen if Infantino proceeds with plans for a 64-team summer tournament. "Increasing the number of national teams makes no sense," Tebas said. "They don't realise they are making irresponsible decisions."

The La Liga chief also highlighted a governance crisis, labelling FIFA's election system as "rotten at its core". He noted that the 56-year-old is expected to secure a fourth term at the March congress because "there's no opposition candidate, nobody wants to stand just to lose".

Tebas suggested Infantino's position could have become untenable over FIFA's decision to postpone a suspension for United States striker Folarin Balogun following an intervention from US President Donald Trump. Uefa labelled the move "unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable", prompting president Aleksander Ceferin to skip the World Cup final in protest. "These things are just the tip of the iceberg," Tebas said, criticising the establishment for remaining silent while the industry suffers damage.