Maradona’s 2019 – As the world looks toward the 2026 World Cup—while Gianni Infantino dominates the conversation—Diego Maradona’s hard-edged complaints from his 2019 exit from the FIFA Legends programme are drawing fresh attention. His claims range from being treated “like a do
The 2026 World Cup build-up has already been branded by one name: Gianni Infantino. Instead of focusing on pitches and preparation. the FIFA president has spent much of this run-up in the orbit of United States President Donald Trump—playing the part of a loyal figure in a relationship that. critics say. has come at the expense of ordinary people who want to travel.
Canada and Mexico are co-hosts, yet the friction has landed on access to the United States. Players. fans. staff. and officials linked to World Cup nations have found themselves trapped behind tougher border controls that have not been softened. One example that has stuck is Somali referee Omar Artan. who was turned away when he arrived in Miami despite having a visa to enter the country.
When the criticism followed, Infantino did not defuse the anger. Instead, he told a journalist to “chill, relax.” The Swiss-born 56-year-old—FIFA president since 2016—has long had detractors. Among the most famous was Diego Maradona. whose anger at FIFA leadership never went quiet even after his death in 2020 at the age of 60.
Maradona’s relationship with FIFA didn’t end with a quiet break. In 2019, he quit the FIFA Legends programme, blaming mistreatment from Infantino. It wasn’t a vague complaint about politics or public image. In a resignation that Maradona described with clear resentment. he said he was treated with a level of disrespect that stunned him.
He recalled being put in a hotel room “with (former Dutch player, Marco) van Basten and another player.” In his telling, the treatment was degrading: “they treated us as if we were little dogs that only needed to be fed and that’s it. A total lack of respect.”
Maradona said that was the moment he resigned on the spot. “That’s why I resigned. And now, I will start revealing what I know about this new FIFA.”
That wasn’t the only time Maradona went public with his fury. He later aimed at FIFA’s deputy general secretary Zvonimir Boban, saying Boban challenged him to a fight after an alleged misunderstanding between them at the hotel where FIFA Legends members were staying.
Maradona’s problem wasn’t only the incident—it was who, in his view, sent Boban in the first place. He slammed Infantino for dispatching the deputy general secretary to deal with the issue. “I would like to say to Boban that if he wants to look good, let’s go to a (boxing) ring. He shouldn’t have come to the hotel and got angry.”.
Then he made the accusation directly: “The worst part is that Boban was sent by someone. And this someone is Infantino. I am not a 20-year-old kid, I am 58. It hurts me because I believed in these people. Now I don’t believe them anymore.”
Boban would later resign in 2019 for unrelated reasons, but Maradona’s account still struck hard—especially because it came from a man whose status in football made his complaints impossible to dismiss as a minor dispute.
Maradona’s anger also landed in the wider shadow of FIFA’s past. Infantino has been in charge since he took over in 2016 after Sepp Blatter. Blatter left amid controversy and was banned from football for six years in 2015 by FIFA’s own ethics committee after approving a £1.3m payment to UEFA president Michel Platini in 2011. That ruling pushed Platini out of the race to become FIFA president. clearing the way for Infantino to take the role.
Fast-forward to 2026, and there is now a criminal complaint made against the current FIFA boss. It claims that Infantino and others “worked to exclude [Platini] from the race for the presidency of FIFA.” Whether or not the allegation turns into something more. it has helped reopen a familiar debate: what kind of leadership FIFA has had—and how much. if anything. has changed.
That brings Maradona’s words back into view. In 2019, he said FIFA had not shifted at all when Infantino arrived. “I sent a letter to Infantino in which I resigned from (the post of) being captain of (FIFA) legends. Since Blatter and [former Argentina Football Association president, Julio] Grondona left, FIFA hasn’t changed a bit. No change.”.
A decade into Infantino’s presidency, the argument many fans make is blunt. World Cup games have become so costly that they’re out of reach for the average supporter. A category one ticket for the final reportedly cost about $1000 in Qatar 2022, but will now set supporters back over $6000 in 2026.
Putting all of it together—Infantino’s dealings at the center of the 2026 conversation. the access barriers tied to U.S. border controls. Maradona’s claims of disrespect and conflict inside FIFA. and the criminal complaint brought years later—the storyline reads like a clash between what football is supposed to be and what FIFA has allowed it to become.
For Maradona’s fans, the sting is personal. His complaints were not theoretical. He said he felt humiliated, he quit immediately, and he spoke as someone who believed he was being shown loyalty—until he decided he wasn’t.
And now, as the World Cup calendar approaches, those memories are resurfacing while a new round of questions swirls around the same office and the same leadership figure.
Diego Maradona Gianni Infantino FIFA Legends Omar Artan Zvonimir Boban 2026 World Cup Donald Trump Sepp Blatter Michel Platini FIFA criminal complaint ticket prices Qatar 2022 ticket prices 2026