LaLiga president Javier Tebas has escalated his rhetoric against FIFA, demanding the departure of Gianni Infantino and criticizing the expansion of the World Cup in the name of club sustainability.
The crisis between national leagues and football’s global governing body has reached a new level of tension. In pointed comments to the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, Javier Tebas, the head of LaLiga, did not hold back in his criticism of Gianni Infantino‘s management of FIFA. The Spanish executive questioned the current president’s tenure and fired back at plans to further increase the number of national teams in the World Cup—a topic that has caused significant unease behind the scenes in Europe.
For Tebas, the excessive focus on a competition that happens only every four years, lasting approximately 40 days, is stifling the real ecosystem of the sport. While the world turns its eyes to the World Cup, the Spanish president reminds everyone that domestic tournaments and local leagues are the true pillars that guarantee financial support, structure, and employment for thousands of professionals around the globe.
A direct attack on FIFA’s management model
Tebas‘ discomfort goes beyond simple calendar logistics. The executive believes that FIFA is ignoring the industry’s needs by prioritizing the bloating of the World Cup. According to him, recent decisions, which already raised the tournament to 48 teams in 2026, ignore the direct impacts on clubs, which are the ones that actually pay the bill for global football on a daily basis.
“Increasing the number of teams makes no sense. The football industry is not just the World Cup, even though it is the most important event. But everything cannot revolve around the World Cup. It is the domestic competitions that sustain this sport.”
Concern for the future of the industry
Tebas‘ tone is one of high alert. To him, FIFA‘s strategy puts the economic viability of the leagues that drive European and South American football at risk. His vision is clear: by expanding the tournament, the governing body sacrifices the financial health of clubs and the interest of local fans.
“They are destroying the football industry, the one that generates tens of thousands of jobs, for the sake of an event that lasts 40 days and for which only a minority of players go.”
The call for resignation and the 2026 controversies
The relationship between LaLiga and FIFA seems to have reached a definitive breaking point. In addition to openly calling for Gianni Infantino‘s resignation, claiming that his cycle at the head of the institution has come to an end, Tebas took the opportunity to attack the technical and disciplinary conduct of the matches. He cited arbitrary decisions made during the 2026 World Cup, such as controversies regarding player suspensions and excessive hydration breaks, as examples that FIFA operates based on its own interests and not on the well-being of the game.
This institutional clash promises to have new chapters, especially with an increasingly crowded calendar. While FIFA seeks to expand its global reach and revenue through expansion, national leagues—driven by the passion that defines the essence of every club—promise to fight for the preservation of the model that established football as the most popular sport in the world. The future of international and club football appears to be on a collision course.
