Javier Tebas, president of La Liga, has stepped up his criticism of Nasser Al-Khelaifi, saying the Paris Saint-Germain president and European Club Association chairman would not be the right person to lead FIFA.
Speculation has intensified in recent weeks that Al-Khelaifi could stand to succeed Gianni Infantino in the 2027 FIFA presidential election. However, Tebas said he believed Al-Khelaifi would be “a bad president for FIFA”, arguing that his approach to football governance was fundamentally different from the model he supports.
“I think Nasser would be better as president of Paris Saint-Germain, but he would not be a good president of FIFA,” Tebas said in comments reported by French outlet Foot Mercato.
“I do not like the way he views football. He does not operate according to the European model that I aspire to.”
Tebas also questioned the way Al-Khelaifi leads the European Club Association, which represents about 800 clubs.
“Al-Khelaifi is president of the European Club Association, which includes around 800 clubs, but only a very small number of them are heard, and he is part of that group,” he added.
“He follows an elitist model that I do not agree with.”
The latest comments come only days after Tebas called for Infantino to resign as FIFA president. His criticism followed Infantino’s controversial proposal to establish a commercial company that would sell part of the rights to the World Cup. That idea was later abandoned.
Al-Khelaifi links denied
Al-Khelaifi’s name has recently been prominent among the potential candidates to replace Infantino. He is understood to have support within UEFA and among a number of national football associations.
Despite that speculation, people close to Al-Khelaifi have categorically denied that he intends to enter the election.
A spokesperson for the Paris Saint-Germain president said he had “no ambition, intention or interest in becoming president of FIFA”.
They added that Al-Khelaifi would continue to support global and European football institutions “quietly and constructively”, rather than becoming involved in media campaigns or an election effort.
Al-Khelaifi is the president of Paris Saint-Germain and also leads the European Club Association, placing him among the most influential figures in the European game. Tebas’s intervention nevertheless makes clear that he does not believe Al-Khelaifi’s wider vision is compatible with the way FIFA should be run.
The comments also underline the continuing disagreement over the direction of football’s governing institutions, following the dispute surrounding Infantino’s abandoned plan to commercialise part of the World Cup rights.
