Senior Fifa official Lamour exits after Infantino criticism

Fifa said on Monday that COO Kevin Lamour had left the organisation, weeks after he publicly criticised Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell a stake in the commercial rights of the World Cup and other tournaments.

Lamour joined the senior leadership group of soccer’s global governing body in November 2024, having previously been part of the inner circle that campaigned for Infantino’s election as Fifa president in 2016.

“Fifa can confirm that the working relationship between Fifa and Kevin Lamour as Fifa’s COO has ended on 17 August 2026,” a Fifa spokesperson said on Monday.

“Fifa thanks Kevin for his two years of service and wishes him the best of luck for the future. No further comment will be made on the matter.”

Ian Maxwell confirms the Scottish FA will not be voting for Gianni Infantino for his re-election as president of Fifa in 2027. #BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/M3C8kLbK24

Lamour had publicly criticised the proposal last month, saying Fifa staff had been “deceived” over the plan and describing it as “the project of one person”.

“Our mission ... is to serve football, not to serve the personal interests of a person who, unfortunately, believes he embodies Fifa when he is supposed to be at its service,” Lamour said.

Frenchman Lamour’s comments came soon after Carlos Cordeiro, a senior adviser to Infantino, resigned in protest at the proposal, calling it “a bad deal for football”. Infantino withdrew the proposal later the same day.

The backlash to the plan to create a $20bn subsidiary and sell up to a 20% stake to private equity investors to raise $4.2bn has not abated, however.

BREAKING: UEFA, CONCACAF and AFC have issued an open letter to the football world saying that FIFA president Gianni Infantino has 'broken trust through deception with the World Cup stake sale process' 🚨 pic.twitter.com/7BLOAXQXLX

Infantino’s bid for reelection for a fourth term as president in March next year, which once looked a formality, is now far from certain.

Powerful European confederation Uefa, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Concacaf are ranged in opposition to the 56-year-old Swiss supremo, although he retains the support of the African and South American confederations.

Human rights in sport organisation FairSquare confirmed on Monday it had written to Fifa’s Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee (GACC) urging that Infantino be ruled ineligible to seek another term as president.

While Fifa presidents are limited to three terms, Infantino successfully argued in 2022 that his first stint in office from 2016 to 2019 should not count towards that limit because it completed an interrupted mandate.