Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter is criticizing successor Gianni Infantino’s plans for a 48-team World Cup and an expanded Club World Cup. In an interview with German weekly Die Zeit released Wednesday, Blatter said that “what is happening at the moment is an overcommercialization of the game.” “There are attempts to squeeze more and more out of the lemon — for example with the World Cup finals with 48 teams or now with a Club World Cup that must be viewed as direct competition to the Champions League,” he was quoted as saying. “FIFA is encroaching here on something that is actually none of its business, club soccer.” The 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada will be the first 48-nation tournament, meeting Infantino’s election pledge of a bigger and more inclusive World Cup going beyond European and South American teams. This year’s tournament in Qatar featured 32 teams. Earlier this month, Infantino called for a 32-team men’s Club World Cup in 2025. Read more: 2026 World Cup hosts take diplomatic handover from Qatar Blatter announced in June 2015 that he would resign early as FIFA president, in the fallout from a sprawling corruption investigation. He has long denied wrongdoing, saying in Wednesday’s interview that “I have never taken money that I didn’t earn — that’s why nothing on me could ever be proven in all the proceedings against me. And that will remain the case.” Infantino, a fellow Swiss, succeeded Blatter in 2016. Blatter told Die Zeit that he has “no relationship with Infantino” and that the current president “behaved disrespectfully because he has refused any contact with me since his election.” Blatter added that “he only communicates with me via lawyers.” Blatter claimed that he had repeatedly “tried to control the business,” for example in attempting to limit transfers of talented South American or African players to Europe. An attempt to introduce a pay cap for players also failed. Blatter said “we didn’t manage to protect soccer from economic and political influence.” Read more: Asia reworks qualifying format for 48-team World Cup in 2026 “I really tried always to serve soccer,” he said. “If in doing so I damaged it, then I am sorry.”

Sepp Blatter was banned for a second time by FIFA on Wednesday for financial wrongdoing, seven months before the 85-year-old former president's first ban expires. Blatter has recently been in poor health and was put in an induced coma for one week after undergoing heart surgery in December, at the time when FIFA was deciding his case. FIFA said its ethics committee banned both Blatter and former secretary general Jérôme Valcke for six years and eight months for self-dealing in awarding themselves contractual bonuses worth millions of dollars, mostly linked to staging World Cups. The charges against both men under the FIFA code of ethics included conflicts of interest, receiving gifts and breach of their duty of loyalty. Valcke was also charged with abuse of office. Wednesday’s verdicts added to a slew of ongoing legal activity connecting the past and present leaderships of soccer’s governing body. Also read: FIFA files criminal complaint against Blatter over museum Both Blatter and Valcke, who also face criminal proceedings in Switzerland and deny wrongdoing, will start serving the new bans when their current ones expire. Blatter and Valcke were previously banned for six years and 10 years, respectively, in separate cases. Blatter's first ban expires in October and Valcke's initial ban will be served in October 2025. Both appealed against their first bans at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and can also go to the Lausanne court to challenge the latest sanctions. In the new case, both men were each fined 1 million Swiss francs ($1.07 million) and ordered to pay within 30 days. It is unclear what power FIFA has to enforce payment. FIFA's allegations of self-dealing in bonus payments led to former finance director Markus Kattner being banned for 10 years last year. Also read: Robert Lewandowski wins FIFA award as best men's player Lawyers acting for FIFA detailed the allegations in June 2016 against the former top officials. They spoke then of “a coordinated effort ... to enrich themselves through annual salary increases, World Cup bonuses, and other incentives totaling more than 79 million Swiss francs (84.5 million).” The investigations against Blatter, Valcke and Kattner were opened in September 2016 when the ethics committee was run by officials appointed in 2012 and later ousted by current FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Blatter’s lawyers argued last November the case should not proceed with officials appointed during Infantino's presidency. They said “all members of the FIFA Ethics Committee are institutionally biased and lack independence in relation to the FIFA Council and FIFA President.” Decisions were taken by three ethics judges more than three months ago on Dec. 17, according to the verdicts published Wednesday. Blatter, Valcke and Kattner are currently under investigation by Swiss federal prosecutors, while Infantino has been targeted by a special prosecutor asked by lawmakers to assess criminal complaints filed against former attorney general Michael Lauber. FIFA filed a separate criminal complaint against Blatter last December before it was revealed he was in a hospital in Zurich. FIFA asked Zurich canton prosecutors to look at the financing of its soccer museum in the city — a pet project of Blatter that opened in 2016 after he was replaced by Infantino. Blatter and Michel Platini, Infantino's former boss at European soccer body UEFA, have been questioned several times by Swiss federal prosecutors in a criminal proceeding they face. Both deny wrongdoing regarding $2 million in payments Blatter authorized to Platini in 2011 for work as an advisor a decade earlier. That allegation led to both being banned by the FIFA ethics committee in 2015. Also read: FIFA President seeks speedy, complete recovery of Salahuddin FIFA has filed a civil action in Switzerland to try to recover the money from Platini. Valcke was acquitted last October of charges of accepting bribes and criminal mismanagement while at FIFA. He was found guilty of a lesser charge of forging documents. Swiss prosecutors have appealed against the verdicts of the federal criminal court, which also saw Qatari soccer and broadcasting executive Nasser al-Khelaifi acquitted of inciting Valcke to commit aggravated criminal mismanagement.

FIFA has filed a criminal complaint against former president Sepp Blatter over the finances of its loss-making soccer museum in Zurich.