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Javier Tebas: ‘Fifa are making irresponsible decisions’‘Hydration breaks are a lie … it was a break for advertising’“Increasing the number of national teams makes no sense,” Tebas said in an interview with the 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, which generates tens of thousands of jobs, for an event that lasts 40 days and involves a minority of players. We need fewer national teams and more protection for national football, at all levels. They don’t realise, they are making irresponsible decisions.”Asked whether Infantino should leave his position, Tebas said: “In my opinion, yes, I think his time is up. However, he has the support of the system, of the federations, so there’s not much more to add, is there?“There’s no opposition candidate, nobody wants to stand just to lose. This is the system, and it’s a system rotten at its core. These past few days here in America I’ve heard many people who are against Infantino, who disagree 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 Swiss is poised to be re-elected for a fourth term in Fifa’s March 2027 congress, although Tebas believes Infantino might have been brought down by the Folarin Balogun affair if the USA had beaten Belgium in their World Cup last-16 tie.The USA striker’s one-match ban was suspended by Fifa’s disciplinary committee, allowing him to play against Belgium, after a phone call to Infantino from Donald Trump. Infantino has said the decision to revoke Balogun’s ban was taken independently by the disciplinary committee “based on the applicable regulations and the specific facts”.Tebas said: “The suspension of the American player’s ban was absolutely serious; they were lucky that Belgium eliminated the USA, because otherwise, a case could have arisen that might have cost Infantino his job. Since Belgium won, they managed to bury the matter. But these things are just the tip of the iceberg.“Fifa arranges things as it wants, for what it wants, for its own interests, certainly not for football. So, if they need a 27-minute half-time break, they’ll have it. Hydration breaks are a lie.“We have them in La Liga, but when it’s genuinely hot. Here, the pitches in Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta had air conditioning; I had to put on a jumper in the stands. It was a lie, a break for advertising.”

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The biggest job in world football is up for election - and there’s just one candidate: Gianni Infantino, who is on course to be re-elected as Fifa president by a landslide in March.The Guardian understands more than 200 of Fifa's 211 member associations have already sent formal letters of support for a fourth Infantino term, with only a handful - Germany the most high-profile among them - yet to declare.The endorsements have flooded in despite a summer of controversy. Watch this video to learn more about why Infantino's power is so untouchable. Fifa has been approached for comment.

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Balogun reprieve showed ‘rules bend under pressure’In an open letter published to coincide with Sunday’s final, Alain Berset also called for a new integrity framework to be built before the 2030 tournament, which is mainly being staged in Europe, and warned that Fifa was embroiled in a crisis involving money and power.Berset referenced the scandal surrounding Fifa’s decision to shelve the suspension of the USA striker Folarin Balogun and made apparent allusions to comments made by the Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla about Kylian Mbappé and by the former Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy about the France team.“The Fifa World Cup 2026 has raised question after question,” Berset wrote. “A sanction suspended under pressure, within days, with no reasons given. The authority of referees called into question. Racist abuse of players, some of it from elected officials. Betting on every pass, every card, every corner. The celebration will end tonight. The questions will not.”It is a significant intervention given Fifa and the Council of Europe signed a memorandum of understanding in 2018, which remains valid. The agreement was struck to strengthen their work together on a number of topics, including “human rights, integrity and good governance in sport”. Open criticism of one partner by another is vanishingly rare.Berset took aim at Fifa’s deal with ADI Predictstreet, which became the World Cup’s official prediction market partner in April. “Betting has moved from the result of a match to moments a single player can produce without changing the score,” he said. “A bet is won by making others lose. It is an open door to fraud. And this World Cup has opened the door wider.”In further reference to the lifting of Balogun’s ban by Fifa, which occurred after a phone call to its president, Gianni Infantino, by his US counterpart, Donald Trump, Berset said: “When the rules bend under pressure, every result is open to doubt.”Infantino has said the decision to revoke Balogun’s ban was taken independently by Fifa’s disciplinary committee “based on the applicable regulations and the specific facts”.Berset, who is Swiss, proposed a “working dialogue that starts tonight” to begin the “urgent work of strengthening the integrity of sport” before future World Cups. He referenced work by the Council of Europe – which is the continent’s intergovernmental human rights organisation – in creating a binding treaty to keep fans safe three months after the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985, as well as further legislation set up to tackle doping in athletics and match-fixing.The letter comes a week and a half after 72 members of the European parliament wrote to the 27 EU-based football associations asking for an investigation into Infantino’s involvement in the Balogun case. It pointed to alleged breaches of political neutrality and suggested Fifa had contravened its own code of ethics.It does not appear likely that Uefa, European football’s governing body, will formally take the matter further. In June, 50 members of the European parliament wrote to Infantino and the Fifa council requesting an investigation into the awarding of the Fifa peace prize to Trump.This past week the Guardian revealed that more that 200 of Fifa’s member associations have formally backed Infantino’s attempt to be re-elected for a fourth term in March.

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Hospitality and secondary ticket market help fuel riseGianni Infantino will feel this shores up his positionFifa’s member associations were informed of the boost in income by Gianni Infantino on Saturday. Originally the governing body had projected $11bn in earnings. Sources have indicated that hospitality and ticketing, especially through the steeply priced secondary market, account for a significant amount of the increase. Fifa takes 15% from the buyer and another 15% from the seller on the secondary market.It is likely that football associations will reap the benefits of Fifa’s expanded World Cup pot, although details are yet to be finalised. The financial situation will come as a boost to Infantino, who will feel it further shores up his position after a controversy-ridden month in the United States, Canada and Mexico.There was widespread fury after Fifa was perceived to have bowed to pressure from Donald Trump in suspending the red card given to Folarin Balogun, the US striker, against Paraguay in the last 16. Fifa has said the decision was taken independently by its disciplinary committee but that has continued to fester among European FAs in particular. Infantino has nevertheless received more than 200 pledges of support from Fifa’s member associations for his re-election in March. The prospect of extra funds from bumper World Cup revenue is likely to dissuade some FAs from making any discontent public.Such a bonanza may also increase the chances of the US hosting another edition in the near future. The next World Cup available for bids is the 2038 tournament. At a reception on Friday, Trump confirmed his country’s eagerness for a repeat performance. “You should choose the United States of America again,” he said. “This time we will leave Canada and Mexico out.” The US has also held talks with Fifa about hosting the Club World Cup in 2029.On Saturday evening VIP and hospitality packages for Sunday’s final between Spain and Argentina, which will be played in New Jersey, were still listed on Fifa’s ticketing portal. Tickets for the “trophy lounge” were retailing at $34,500 per person.

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Donald Trump spoke to Fifa president before ban liftedHuman rights body FairSquare sent complaint to IOCGianni Infantino is poised to escape without sanction after complaints he breached rules on political neutrality in his dealings with Donald Trump over the Folarin Balogun affair.The International Olympic Committee this week received a formal complaint from the human rights organisation FairSquare regarding Infantino’s conduct after Trump revealed he had called the Fifa president asking him to review Balogun’s ban from the USA’s last-16 tie against Belgium. The ban was subsequently suspended for 12 months after an unprecedented ruling from Fifa’s disciplinary committee.Infantino has been an IOC member since 2020, and its charter states that members must act independently of political and commercial interests. It adds that they cannot accept “from governments, organisations, or other parties, any mandate or instructions liable to interfere with the freedom of their action and vote”.FairSquare claims that Infantino’s discussions on the matter with Trump represent a breach. Infantino denies this and the Guardian has been told there is unlikely to be a formal investigation.IOC sources have disclosed that there is an extreme reluctance on its part to intervene in an international federation’s application of its own rules, particularly when internal appeals processes have not been exhausted.Another source said the balance of power between the IOC and Fifa has shifted significantly over the past two decades, with the former increasingly reliant on the latter for commercial revenue and relevance among younger audiences.With the next summer Olympic Games taking place in Los Angeles in 2028 the IOC will hope to capitalise on the football boom in the US that has brought record ticket sales and revenue raised from the World Cup, making any action on Balogun even more unlikely.Significantly the IOC has yet to receive complaints from Uefa or the Royal Belgium Football Federation, who both condemned the decision to suspend Balogun’s ban.The Belgian federation said it was keeping all legal options open, including a possible appeal to the court of arbitration for sport, but has been silent since the team were knocked out of the World Cup in the quarter-finals by Spain, with sources indicating it is ready to drop the matter.The federation’s president, Pascale Van Damme, is a member of Fifa Council, the governing body’s main decision-making organ.Infantino appears to have emerged from the scandal with his powerbase intact, with more than 200 of the 211 Fifa members having sent letters of personal endorsement to Fifa before next year’s presidential election.Infantino has admitted speaking to Trump about the issue, but a statement made in his name by Fifa last week said they spoke regularly on a range of subjects, and that he does likewise with other heads of state.Infantino also said the decision to revoke Balogun’s ban was taken independently by Fifa’s disciplinary committee. “They operate autonomously, apply the Fifa disciplinary code, and decide cases based on the applicable regulations and the specific facts before them,” he said. “Their independence is essential to the credibility and integrity of football, and this must always be respected.”The Times reported last weekend that the decision to lift Balogun’s suspension was taken solely by the chair of Fifa’s disciplinary committee, Mohammad al-Kamali of the United Arab Emirates, but other sources within Fifa have indicated that he is being offered up as a scapegoat.A unilateral decision from al-Kamali would represent a significant departure from the disciplinary committee’s usual processes during a World Cup, which are based on three-person panels being appointed to oversee disciplinary matters and decisions taken by a majority vote.Panel members are selected from the 18 members of Fifa’s disciplinary committee, with Thomas Hollerer, the general secretary of the Austrian Football Association, chairing the panel from the quarter-finals.The Guardian has been unable to establish the identity of the panel members for the last 32, the stage of the tournament where Balogun was sent off in the USA’s 2-1 win against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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Only a handful of FAs have not declared their supportGianni Infantino has the formal endorsement of more than 200 countries for re-election as Fifa’s president despite the climate of unrest that has swirled since the scandal surrounding Folarin Balogun’s reprieve from suspension.The Guardian understands only a handful of Fifa’s 211 member associations are still to send letters of support for Infantino, who is on course to be voted into a fourth term by a landslide at its congress in March. A small number of European countries are among the outliers, with Germany the highest-profile FA yet to provide official backing.Candidates must be put forward by 18 November, before which time letters can also be withdrawn or transferred to a different contender. But Infantino is currently the only runner and some FAs feel they have, nonetheless, come under persistent pressure from within Fifa to confirm their allegiance. In theory that should not be permitted under Fifa’s ethics code.It would take a political earthquake to dislodge Infantino. Although there remains disquiet after Donald Trump admitted lobbying Fifa to review the USA striker Balogun’s red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina, the vast majority of it is festering among European FAs and adjacent bodies. Infantino does not need to count on Europe’s support to land an overwhelming mandate and, in any case, most of the continent has confirmed its endorsement for his re-election. The English FA is among those to have sent its letter well in advance of the World Cup.The topic of a Europe-backed candidate to run against Infantino has gained legitimacy behind closed doors over the past 10 days but the prospect of multiple federations settling upon a name feels remote.Fifa’s member associations will convene in New York on Saturday although, with Infantino helming the meeting, the subject of recent scandals is unlikely to be an agenda item. The World Cup’s financial performance, and any subsequent benefits that could be passed on to the FAs, is more likely to be a topic of discussion.

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Infantino has said US president will hand over trophySpain v Argentina final is set for Sunday in New JerseyDonald Trump will attend Sunday’s World Cup final between Spain and Argentina, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday.“We look forward ⁠to the final match on Sunday, ​and I know ‌the president ‌looks forward to attending,” Leavitt said. “This is a fitting conclusion to a tournament that showcased America’s ability to host the world on the grandest stage.”“Yes, hopefully we’ll present the trophy together in the final,” Infantino said. “That’s always been the plan, and that’s how it’s always been done in the past – the president of the country where the final is held presents the trophy together with the Fifa president.”At the 2022 World Cup final, the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, joined Infantino to award the trophy to Lionel Messi and his Argentina teammates. Vladimir Putin awarded it to Kylian Mbappé and France after their win at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.Trump was front and center for the final of last summer’s Club World Cup at the same stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, presenting the trophy to champions Chelsea and drawing loud boos from the crowd.While Trump has not yet attended a game at this World Cup, he has nevertheless played a significant role. He has a close relationship with Infantino, and called the Fifa president to lobby for a review of USA star Folarin Balogun’s controversial red-card suspension before their last-16 match. Fifa did reverse Balogun’s ban, but the political circus cast a pall over the US team, who exited a promising World Cup with a flat loss to Belgium.Trump has made several appearances at sporting events since his reelection. Last year, he attended the Super Bowl, tennis’s US Open, the Daytona 500 and golf’s Ryder Cup. This year, he has attended several golf events, college football’s national championship game and Game 3 of the NBA Finals, where he was met with boos from the New York Knicks home crowd.Leavitt told reporters that she did not know which team Trump was supporting in the final.“I’m sure he’ll have a fun answer ⁠for you,” she told reporters.Leavitt also said Trump will attend a Fifa reception at Trump Tower in New York City on Friday. Soccer’s governing body opened an office in the building last year.