Top Fifa official sacked weeks after criticising Infantino's investor plan
Fifa has sacked its chief operating officer Kevin Lamour less than three weeks after he publicly criticised president Gianni Infantino's abandoned plan to sell stakes in Fifa's competitions to private investors. Fifa said the pair had agreed to part ways as of 17 August.
Fifa has parted ways with its chief operating officer Kevin Lamour, just weeks after he openly criticised president Gianni Infantino's now-abandoned proposal to sell a stake in the organisation's competition rights to private investors, BBC Sport has learned.
A Fifa spokesperson confirmed only that the working relationship with Lamour as COO ended on 17 August 2026, thanking him for two years of service. Staff were informed on Monday evening in an email from secretary general Mattias Grafstrom, who said the two sides had "agreed to part ways".
Last month, Lamour had described the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal as "the project of one person" and called on football's political leaders to ask the right questions and make the right decisions. He said Fifa's own administration had been "deceived" about the plan, and argued that a president should unite people rather than divide them.
Lamour joined Fifa in November 2024 after serving as deputy general secretary at Uefa, sitting two levels of management below Infantino. Earlier this month, Infantino secured backing from senior executives at a meeting in Morocco, to which Lamour was not invited.
In a letter to Fifa Council members, Grafstrom said the decision followed careful consideration and was made with respect for Lamour, thanking him for his contributions and commitment.
Infantino has faced mounting pressure since proposing FFE, a new company intended to manage commercial and ticketing rights for all Fifa competitions, including World Cups. The plan was dropped after criticism over a proposal to sell a 21% stake to private investment firms, with Uefa, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation publicly opposing it and Uefa threatening a World Cup boycott. A senior Infantino adviser, Carlos Cordeiro, resigned in the aftermath.
Following the plan's collapse, Uefa and Concacaf withdrew their support for Infantino's bid for a fourth presidential term at next March's Fifa Congress, though some Concacaf members, including Mexico, broke ranks to back him, alongside the African, South American and Oceania confederations. On Monday, the Scottish FA became the latest association to withdraw support, joining England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Governance charity FairSquare has written to Fifa demanding Infantino be barred from standing for re-election.
