Platini urges FIFA President Infantino to resign

French football legend Michel Platini has launched a scathing attack on FIFA President Gianni Infantino, declaring that he "must go" amid the scandals surrounding world football's governing body in recent times.

Speaking to a French newspaper on November 4, former UEFA President Platini said Infantino had failed to uphold his role as guardian of the game's rules.

"The economic side is one thing, but Infantino has failed because he is the guarantor of the rules of the game and he has not respected them," Platini said.

The 56-year-old FIFA chief has faced mounting criticism after a plan to sell stakes to private investors in FIFA tournaments, including the World Cup, was scrapped amid a fierce backlash. He has also been criticized over a series of controversies at the 2026 World Cup, which recently concluded in North America.

Platini specifically criticized the "cooling breaks" at the World Cup, after FIFA admitted that these breaks often lasted up to four minutes and were used by the host broadcaster to sell advertisements. He also cited the halftime interval at the final stretching well beyond the maximum 15-minute limit, as well as FIFA's controversial decision to lift a suspension on American striker Folarin Balogun following a call from U.S. President Donald Trump to Infantino.

"Advertising during breaks is not in the rules, a 30-minute halftime at the final is not in the rules, and the red card is the worst thing," Platini said. "He is the guardian of the rules, but he does not respect them—he must go."

Since the World Cup, UEFA has threatened to boycott FIFA tournaments unless Infantino scrapped the plan to sell stakes to private investors. Europe's football governing body has also accused Infantino of "criminal management" over the private financial plan. FIFA has not responded to Al Jazeera's request for comment.

Beyond UEFA, regional confederations such as CONMEBOL (South America) and the AFC (Asia) have also put pressure on Infantino, who is expected to seek re-election in March next year. Platini remarked: "It won't be sports organizations that arrange this and bring him down. If UEFA wants to bring down Infantino, they will have to do it through the courts."

"I always knew he loved money and power," Platini said of his successor at FIFA.

Platini himself was accused of fraud in 2015 while serving as UEFA President and eyeing the FIFA presidency, when he was suspected of receiving an illegal $2 million payment from predecessor Sepp Blatter. He was acquitted by a Swiss court in 2025 but was forced to resign, paving the way for Infantino's election in 2016.

Platini is currently suing Infantino along with two former FIFA officials, Marco Villiger and Domenico Scala, in France, accusing them of "criminal conspiracy to defame, influence peddling, and complicity in influence peddling" to block him from becoming FIFA President in 2015.