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French football legend Michel Platini, former president of UEFA, stated this Sunday to his country's Canal+ television that the FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, "must go" because "he did not respect the rules" that govern football.
"Economic issues are one thing, but I think Infantino has failed because he is the guarantor of the rules of the game and has not respected them," declared the three-time Ballon d'Or winner.
"The advertising breaks (the so-called hydration breaks during the last World Cup matches) are not in the regulations, nor is the 30-minute halftime break in the final, and the red card incident is even worse. He is the guarantor (of the rules) and he did not respect them, so he must go," he added, alluding to the suspension of American forward Folarin Balogun that was overturned during the World Cup after a phone call from President Donald Trump.
Platini thus joins the voices pushing against Infantino, whose position has been greatly weakened after the 2026 World Cup due to his project—eventually aborted in the face of opposition—to open FIFA competitions, and especially the World Cup, to private investors through a commercial company.
The European football confederation (UEFA), allied with Concacaf (North America, Central America, and the Caribbean) and the AFC (Asia), is leading the opposition against the current FIFA president, who has been in the position since 2016 and is currently the only candidate in the elections scheduled for March 2027 at a Congress in Morocco.
UEFA is even preparing a complaint before the Swiss courts against Infantino for "unfair management" and does not hide that it is looking for a candidate willing to face the Italo-Swiss leader in the 2027 elections.
- Judicial route -
"It will not be through sports institutions that this is resolved and he falls. I think if UEFA wants to take down Infantino, it will be through the justice system," Platini indicated.
"I always knew he liked money and power very much," added the former No. 10 and captain of France, who was once considered the favorite to succeed Joseph Blatter as FIFA president, before being removed from that race by fraud accusations that resulted in a final acquittal in August 2025.
That step back by Platini opened the door to the unexpected election in February 2016 of the former UEFA general secretary, Gianni Infantino.
"He didn't make me fall, but he took advantage of it," noted Platini, who filed a complaint in June against Infantino for "slanderous denunciation" and "influence peddling."
"I filed it in France because in Switzerland I don't have many chances of winning," he explained with a smile.
[Publicidad]