Spain’s 2030 World Cup role faces fresh scrutiny as Javier Tebas warns over Gianni Infantino
SEO Title: Javier Tebas Warns Spain Could Rethink 2030 World Cup Role if Gianni Infantino Stays
SEO Description: LaLiga president Javier Tebas has questioned Spain’s place in the 2030 World Cup project, arguing that another Gianni Infantino term at FIFA would leave the country with little chance of hosting the final.
Madrid’s ambitions for the centrepiece of the 2030 World Cup have become entangled with the political future of FIFA. Speaking in the Spanish capital at the World Football Summit, LaLiga president Javier Tebas said Spain should reassess its involvement in the tournament if Gianni Infantino secures another term as president of world football’s governing body.
Spain will stage the centenary World Cup alongside Portugal and Morocco, but the location of the final remains unresolved. Tebas doubts that Spain would be selected for the title match should Infantino remain in charge, arguing that a re-election would leave the country with only a remote prospect of receiving the final.
“If Infantino is re-elected, Spain’s chances of having the final are minimal,” Tebas said. “At the very least, we have to reconsider our position in relation to the World Cup. I do not know whether that would mean withdrawing, but we should rethink everything we are doing.”
A widening dispute around FIFA
Tebas’s intervention comes amid increased resistance to a further Infantino candidacy, following anger over the FIFA president’s disputed proposal to sell stakes connected to the World Cup. The LaLiga chief said Infantino’s continued leadership would be damaging for the game and openly challenged his credibility.
“It is disgraceful that he is standing again,” Tebas said. He referred to an episode in which Infantino was alleged to have called in an effort to have a red card removed during a World Cup, questioning whether a FIFA president could be trusted to intervene when national teams had so much at stake. “He is simply not credible, and this is not the first time he has behaved in this way,” Tebas added.
The Spanish official also suggested that Infantino could retain substantial backing in a FIFA election because many member federations depend financially on the governing body. For Spain, Portugal and Morocco, the 2030 project was meant to be a shared celebration across the western edge of Europe and North Africa. Tebas’s remarks have instead placed Spain’s role, and particularly its hopes of hosting the final, within the broader argument over who should lead FIFA into that tournament.
