La Liga president Javier Tebas has issued a stinging statement in response to Gianni Infantino’s 2026 World Cup rant.
Infantino has been accused of going ‘full Donald Trump’ with an unexpected statement posted on FIFA’s official website and across 15 slides on his Instagram account.
The under-fire FIFA president blasted critics of the 2026 World Cup, claiming they’ve been “consumed by hate” and urging them to “meditate, pray or watch a football match” in order to “find peace”.
Infantino claimed this summer’s tournament in North America featured “no violence, no incidents, 100% safety and security” - ignoring the fact four supporters tragically died during World Cup celebrations in Mexico City.
He defended the treatment of Iran’s national football team, issues over visas, and even the hugely controversial Folarin Balogun red card situation.
“Indeed, ‘arguable’ referees' decisions or ‘strange’ disciplinary rulings such as for instance potentially mistaken red or yellow cards or subsequent decisions not to ban players in certain situations are routine and widely accepted in some of the biggest leagues worldwide,” Infantino wrote. “It's curious that the same countries employing these practices are the ones criticising.”
La Liga President Responds to Infantino's World Cup Statement
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| REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes |
Rather than convince people that the 2026 World Cup was a tournament without any downsides, Infantino’s statement appears to have had the opposite effect.
The “lame-duck FIFA president” now finds himself under even more scrutiny, with La Liga president Tebas tweeting:
"Today Gianni Infantino has written a pathetic message on his Instagram account and on the accounts of FIFA.
"No one disputes that football is emotion and unity. But transparency, good governance, and accountability are never hate; they are an obligation. Strong institutions do not discredit those who ask questions; they answer the questions.
"And a reflection Gianni: when a leader dedicates an entire message to disqualifying those who exercise legitimate scrutiny, it's inevitable to wonder... why precisely now? Is there something that explains such a defensive tone? Is something happening that we don't know about?"
Infantino Called to Appear Before Congress Over Trump Ties
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| Reuters/Mark J Rebilas |
Meanwhile, Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House judiciary committee, has launched an investigation into Infantino, seeking documents that would detail the ties between FIFA and US President Donald Trump and his administration, per The Guardian.
“[Y]our election as FIFA president was supposed to mark a red-card break from a decades-long culture of corruption and scandals that dressed down world soccer’s reputation,” Raskin wrote to Infantino in the letter.
“Instead, at the start of your tenure, you dismantled FIFA’s ethical guardrails and disabled the organization’s ethics committee by pushing out most of its members. This lack of transparency and oversight has since paved the way for you to ingratiate yourself with the Trump administration via tactics that a New York University law professor and one of your former ethics committeemen described as ‘legal bribery’.”
Trump, who has close ties with Infantino, has reportedly lined up a potential new job for the under-pressure FIFA president.
- Rob Swan
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