FIFA is 'destroying the football industry' claims LaLiga chief Javier Tebas

“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 it has had its day. But it 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.” 

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter criticised football’s global governing body over the Balogun case during the World Cup and has also now backed the call for Infantino to be replaced.

“The longest World Cup has come to an end – with the right champions,” Blatter wrote on X.

“But on the way to the final whistle, the tournament had lost its credibility. Politics must not be allowed to overshadow the game.

“Now it is up to the fans, players and national associations to reclaim football and bring it back to its roots under new leadership.” The Press Association has approached FIFA for comment.