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La Liga chief Javier Tebas has accused Fifa of “destroying the football industry” and called for its president Gianni Infantino to quit.
Tebas launched his attack on Infantino and Fifa as the dust settled on the 2026 World Cup amid suggestions that the 2030 tournament could be increased from 48 to 64 teams.
“Increasing the number of national teams makes no sense,” Tebas said in an interview with Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“The football industry is not just the World Cup, which is the most important event. But not everything can revolve around the World Cup. It is national competitions that support this sport.
“They are destroying the football industry, the one that generates tens of thousands of jobs for an event that lasts 40 days and to which the minority of players go.
“We need fewer national teams and more protection for national football, at all levels. They don’t realise, they decide irresponsibly.”
Asked if Infantino should leave his position, Tebas said: “In my opinion, yes, I think his time is up. But he has the support of the system, of the federations, there is not much more to add, right?
“There is no opposition candidate, no one wants to present themselves to lose. This is the system, and it is a system that is sick at the source.
“In these days here in America I have heard many people against Infantino, who do not agree with what he does. They say it, but then they do nothing.
“I don’t know if silence or complicity is worse, because those who are silent are perfectly aware of the damage that football is suffering.”
Infantino has been a controversial figure during his 10 years as Fifa president.
The 56-year-old Swiss is poised to be re-elected for a fourth term in Fifa’s March congress, although Tebas believes Infantino could have been brought down by the Folarin Balogun affair.
The United States striker’s one-match ban was suspended by Fifa’s disciplinary committee, allowing him to play in their World Cup last-16 tie against Belgium, following a phone call to Infantino from US president Donald Trump.
Tebas said: “The suspension of the American player’s disqualification is something of absolute gravity.
“They were lucky because Belgium eliminated the USA, because otherwise a case could have been created that could have cost Infantino his job.
“Since Belgium won, they managed to bury the thing. But these things are only the tip of the iceberg.
“Fifa fixes things as it wants, for what it wants, for its interests, certainly not for football. And so if they need 27 minutes of interval they do it. Hydration breaks are a lie.
“We have them in LaLiga, but when it’s really hot. Here, the stadium of Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta had air conditioning, I had to put on a sweater in the stands. It was a lie, a break for advertising.”
Infantino confirmed last week that the prospect of a further 16 nations taking part in the World Cup “will be examined and discussed”.
Alejandro Dominguez, the head of Conmebol (the South American football confederation) and a Fifa vice-president, has suggested that the expansion is a done deal. The 2030 tournament is predominantly split between Morocco, Portugal and Spain, but Conmebol nations will host the opening matches.
Dominguez posted on X: “The next one is at home! In 2030, the World Cup is coming to Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay. It will be a great opportunity for football, to celebrate the World Cup’s centenary with a 64-team tournament.”
Conmebol appears to be among those lobbying behind the scenes for the competition to go up to 64 teams. That would be double the size of World Cups staged before 2026.
A 32-nation competition had been in place between 1998 and 2022. Dominguez’s comments come just a day after the first 48-team tournament concluded in North America.
Fifa has been contacted for comment, but Dominguez’s comments are more definitive than Infantino’s last week. In an interview with Swiss publication Bluewin, the Fifa president said: “It [a 64-team tournament] is definitely an issue that will be examined and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup,” reiterating that the tournament was “for the whole world, not just Europe and South America”.
He added: “Every nation should be allowed to dream of participating in the World Cup. You can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high – and it’s getting higher and higher, all over the world.”
Infantino had previously claimed the expansion to 48 teams had been “100 per cent a success” despite criticism from fans and teams. Ghana head coach Carlos Queiroz had described the expansion as “vulgar and ordinary”.
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