La Liga boss Javier Tebas demands Infantino’s resignation

La Liga president Javier Tebas has called on Gianni Infantino to step down as FIFA president, declaring that the Swiss-Italian’s era at the helm of world football is over.

Tebas has become the latest senior football official to openly challenge Infantino’s leadership following the collapse of FIFA’s controversial FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal.

Infantino has faced mounting pressure since details of the previously undisclosed plan became public. The proposal involved creating a new commercial entity, valued at $20 billion, to manage the commercial and ticketing rights of FIFA’s flagship competitions, with around 20 percent of the company potentially sold to private investors.

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“For me, Gianni Infantino’s time has long since passed,” Tebas told French newspaper Le Monde in an interview published on Sunday.

The La Liga chief, a longstanding critic of Infantino, said the controversy surrounding the FFE proposal had highlighted management practices he had opposed for years.

Tebas also accused Infantino of prioritising projects focused on elite competitions at the expense of domestic leagues, arguing that such an approach risks undermining the foundations of football.

“For me, the Infantino era is over,” he said.

Tebas calls for wider FIFA reform

Tebas argued that removing Infantino alone would not resolve what he considers deeper problems within FIFA’s governance structure.

He called for a broader overhaul of the organisation and said a change in leadership should be accompanied by a new approach to how world football is governed.

“And the problem is not limited to one person: It is about an entire system,” Tebas said.

“The old system can persist even when the people change. Let’s hope things truly change, that a new leader arrives, and that new governance is established at FIFA.”

Infantino under mounting pressure

The latest criticism comes after FIFA abandoned the FFE proposal following widespread opposition, particularly from UEFA and several European football associations.

UEFA has maintained that it has lost confidence in Infantino’s leadership and has threatened to boycott FIFA competitions unless its concerns are addressed.

The European governing body has also demanded assurances that a similar commercialisation plan will not be revived in the future.

FIFA, meanwhile, has defended Infantino and his democratic mandate, rejecting what it described as attempts to undermine the president through allegations and misinformation.

Infantino, who was first elected FIFA president in 2016, was re-elected for another term in 2023.

The growing opposition from influential figures such as Tebas, however, adds to the pressure on the FIFA president as the debate over the organisation’s governance and commercial strategy intensifies.