Gianni Infantino 'must go', Michel Platini says

Michel Platini said FIFA president Gianni Infantino "must go", accusing him of failing to respect football's rules after controversies at the recently ended World Cup in North America.

Platini, a former UEFA president, told Canal+ on Sunday that Infantino had failed as "the guarantor of the rules of the game". He criticised hydration breaks at the World Cup, the half-time show during the final and FIFA's suspension of a red-card ban given to American forward Folarin Balogun after a phone call from US President Donald Trump to Infantino.

"The ad breaks are not in the rules, the 30-minute half-time break in the final is not in the rules, and the red card, that's the worst," Platini said.

Infantino has also faced pressure over an aborted plan to bring private investment into FIFA events, including the World Cup. UEFA threatened to boycott FIFA tournaments until Infantino scrapped the FIFA Forward Enterprises plan, and UEFA has accused him of "criminal mismanagement" over the private financing.

Platini said sporting bodies would not be the ones to remove Infantino. "If UEFA wants to bring down Infantino, it will be through the courts," he said.

Platini is suing Infantino and former FIFA officials Marco Villiger and Domenico Scala in France, seeking compensation over what he says were tactics used to stop him being elected FIFA president in 2015. He accuses the three of offences including criminal conspiracy to commit false accusation and influence peddling.

Platini was accused of fraud in 2015 over a $2 million payment from then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter. He was acquitted of wrongdoing in 2025, but had already stepped down from UEFA. Infantino was elected FIFA president in 2016.