Hoeness: If we allow Trump to make the decisions, it will be the beginning of the end
Hoeneß strongly criticised the Ballon d'Or incident
Uli Hoeness, the honorary president of Bayern Munich, has torn into FIFA president Gianni Infantino over a string of his decisions, taking aim at plans to expand the World Cup and the drive to bring investors into the tournament.
The lifting of American forward Folarin Balogun's suspension at the 2026 World Cup drew Hoeness's fire. He told "Sky Sport Germany": "Mr Infantino has made some mistakes during his time in football, but this was one of his biggest mistakes."
He added: "If you allow a man like Donald Trump to decide or influence whether a player is suspended or not, then this is the beginning of the end of the competition. And if we accept something like this, then this is no longer my sport. For me, that was simply unacceptable."
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Infantino's plan to bring investors into the World Cup drew an equally scathing response. "I never thought it possible that someone could come up with an idea like this," Hoeness said. "The whole development that Infantino is pushing towards is also worrying: the tournament used to feature 48 teams, and soon it will become 64."
He continued: "We have already made our players available (to the national teams) for six weeks, and now the period may become longer. It's unbelievable."
The Bayern Munich legend went on: "I am really in favour of supporting the smaller federations, but the World Cup must be an elite event. Otherwise there will be more television channels paying money, but one thing will be sacrificed in return: football itself."
