Tebas is not asking for a new president. He is asking for a new FIFA.

In an interview with Le Monde published on Sunday, the La Liga chief argued that the crisis engulfing world football’s governing body will not be solved by simply putting a different name in Infantino’s chair.

“I hope it is not just a matter of swapping out some people for others, but of a genuine overhaul,” Tebas told the French newspaper.

‘The Infantino era is over’

His verdict on the current president was blunt.

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“For me, the Infantino era is over,” Tebas said, adding that Infantino “is not someone who contributes to the growth of football.”

“His projects destroy the essence of the sport, which is the domestic leagues.”

Tebas made a point of noting that his position predates the pay-off allegations reported by The Telegraph on 8 August, which claim UEFA paid a former employee more than £150,000 after an alleged relationship with Infantino during his time as the confederation’s general secretary. Infantino denies the allegations.

“What surprises me is the reaction of many people who stayed quiet for years,” he said.

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The domestic-league argument

Tebas’s core grievance is a familiar one. He has been warning for weeks that FIFA’s push to keep expanding the World Cup, and the 64-team proposal for 2030 in particular, is squeezing the domestic game that pays the bills the rest of the year.

“They are destroying the football industry, which generates tens of thousands of jobs, for an event that lasts 40 days and involves only a minority of players,” he said in July.

FIFA hits back at ‘concerted effort’

FIFA had already framed the wider criticism as an organised campaign a day earlier. In a statement released on Saturday, the governing body said it was “increasingly evident that there is a concerted and ongoing effort by some to undermine FIFA and its president” and warned that those without the backing of member associations “should not seek to achieve through allegation, insinuation or misinformation what they cannot achieve through FIFA’s established democratic processes.”

Norway, Wales and England turn on Infantino

Tebas’s intervention lands in a week when opposition to Infantino in Europe hardened. Norwegian FA president Lise Klaveness called on him to resign and confirmed a fresh ethics complaint. The Football Association of Wales was the first European body to withdraw its backing for Infantino’s re-election, and the English FA is finalising a letter doing the same, with Sweden and Serbia also having pulled their previous endorsements.

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Outside Europe, the picture is different. CAF, the African confederation, reaffirmed its backing for Infantino after last week’s emergency meeting in Rabat. Confederations, however, do not decide the outcome of FIFA elections. Each of the 211 member associations that make up the FIFA Congress casts its own ballot.

That vote is now less than eight months away. The 77th FIFA Congress will be held in Rabat on 18 March 2027, and Concacaf president Victor Montagliani has been named as the most likely challenger to what had, until recently, looked certain to be an unopposed third term for Infantino.

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