La Liga President Demands FIFA President's Resignation

La Liga President Javier Tebas has made a strong statement demanding the resignation of FIFA President Gianni Infantino. The reason for this demand is FIFA's withdrawal from the "FIFA Forward Enterprise" (FFE) project, which aimed to sell part of the commercial rights of the World Cup to private investors.

Tebas believes that the cancellation of the project is only a temporary solution to a systemic crisis in FIFA's governance. "FIFA's decision to retract its proposals for the commercialization of tournaments is undoubtedly good news. However, it would be a mistake to think that the governance issues within the organization have been resolved. Confederations, national associations, leagues, players, and other participants in the football process should not be satisfied with just this decision and consider the matter resolved. The problem runs much deeper," stated Tebas.

The La Liga chief recalled several recent controversial and scandalous decisions made by FIFA management:

• The annulment of a player’s (Folarin Balogun’s) red card due to political intervention.
• Investigations launched by the U.S. Congress demanding explanations from Gianni Infantino regarding serious violations.
• FIFA's refusal to address historic corruption charges.
• Scandalous pricing for World Cup tickets.
• Unilateral decisions regarding the international match calendar, new tournaments, and formats made without dialogue and consensus with the interested parties.

"The issue has never solely been about one specific proposal. The main problem is the governance model that concentrates power in one person's hands, weakens the system of checks and balances, and limits the influence of those directly affected by the decisions made. For this reason, I believe Gianni Infantino should not continue to lead FIFA. Global football needs new leadership that can modernize the governance system, restore trust in the organization, and make future decisions in collaboration with all stakeholders, evaluating their sporting, economic, and social consequences in advance, rather than imposing them unilaterally. The withdrawal of one proposal does not erase everything that has happened before. This is just the tip of the iceberg," concluded Javier Tebas.