🚨🗣️New: Diego Forlan reacts to Bielsa’s stance during the FIFA promotional photoshoot and his broader criticisms of the 2026 World Cup organization:
“Marcelo Bielsa is a man of principles in a world that’s lost them. When he stands there with his hands in his pockets, looking at the floor instead of smiling like a paid actor for the cameras, he’s saying what many of us feel: ‘I’m not a model.’ He’s a football man, not a billboard for Infantino’s circus.
This World Cup in the United States was supposed to be special, but we’ve seen the problems since Copa América 2024. Bad pitches, terrible training facilities, airport chaos, security issues — organizers saying everything is ‘perfect’ while players suffer. Bielsa called it out honestly. He sees the plague of priorities: money first, spectacle first, football last.
FIFA under Infantino has turned our game into a billionaire’s playground. Record revenues, sky-high ticket prices that keep real fans out, endless sponsorships, pop shows at halftime, forced photoshoots… They’re Americanizing football into NFL-style entertainment for corporations and the rich. The 48-team format dilutes quality, travel is a nightmare, and everything feels like a cash grab. Bielsa refuses to play the clown while fans pay the price and players deal with the mess.
What we’re witnessing with the United States hosting this World Cup is deeply troubling. Just look at Uruguay’s arrival, players like Manuel Ugarte standing with folded arms, visibly confused, as sniffer dogs inspect their luggage as though they were criminal suspects. That image speaks volumes. These are representatives of the world’s biggest sporting event — ambassadors of football, not people being treated with suspicion at the border.
Respect to El Loco. He earns his money on the training ground, building teams with intensity and honesty — not by posing for suits in private jets. Too many coaches and players stay silent because the checks keep coming. Bielsa reminds us what football should be: pure, tough, for the people. If that makes Infantino and the organizers uncomfortable, good. The game belongs to warriors like him, not the marketing machine.