After Congress and the courts, Bukele looks to control football in El Salvador

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele appears to enjoy the limelight. His high-profile social media style has made headlines across the world, through his conflicts with courts and opposition parties, adopting bitcoin as national currency, or ironically changing his Twitter bio to “Emperor of El Salvador.” Now, he is also making it into the sports pages by seeking to change how international football in the country is run.

Mr. Bukele, who often tweets during his national team’s competitive appearances, said that it might be time for the government to intervene in the national football federation after El Salvador’s defeat to Mexico. Such a move is clearly prohibited according to the FIFA rulebook, potentially leading to disaffiliation and disqualification from all tournaments, both at the international and club level. 

“I think it’s time to intervene. They will sanction us for a couple of years and then we can come back playing properly,” he tweeted.

At the heart of the controversy is President Bukele’s brother’s Yamil, who currently presides over the INDES national sports institute. The Bukeles want the Salvadoran Football Federation (Fesfut) to comply with regulations introduced by their government that force all Salvadoran sports-related entities to register with the INDES, and have threatened to take over Fesfut if the new laws are ignored.

According to the government, registration...