Fifa executive Kevin Lamour leaves after criticising Infantino’s commercial plan

Fifa chief operating officer Kevin Lamour has left the organisation less than a month after publicly attacking Gianni Infantino’s proposal to sell a stake in the governing body’s commercial rights.

Fifa confirmed on Monday that Lamour’s working relationship with the organisation ended on 17 August 2026.

“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.

“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.”

Lamour, a French national, joined Fifa’s senior leadership group in November 2024. Before that, he had been part of the close-knit team that campaigned for Infantino to become Fifa president in 2016.

His departure follows outspoken criticism of a plan to create a $20bn subsidiary and sell as much as a 20% stake to private equity investors. The proposal was designed to raise $4.2bn from the commercial rights to the World Cup and other tournaments.

Lamour said last month that Fifa employees had been “deceived” about the proposal and described 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.

His comments came shortly after Carlos Cordeiro, a senior adviser to Infantino, resigned in opposition to the plan. Cordeiro called it “a bad deal for football”, prompting Infantino to withdraw the proposal later that same day.

The controversy has continued despite the withdrawal and has increased pressure on Infantino ahead of his bid for a fourth term as Fifa president in March next year. His re-election had previously appeared almost certain but is now considered far less secure.

Uefa, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Concacaf are opposing the 56-year-old Swiss president’s continued leadership, although Infantino still has the backing of the African and South American confederations.

Uefa, the AFC and Concacaf, which oversees football in the Caribbean, North America and Central America, called last week for an independent review of Infantino’s conduct. People familiar with the situation said the three confederations viewed their letter as a possible route for Infantino to leave office with his dignity intact.

The Scottish Football Association has also said it will not support Infantino’s re-election. Its chief executive, Ian Maxwell, told the BBC on Monday that the association had reached that position.

Challenge to Infantino’s eligibility

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

Fifa presidents are restricted to three terms, but Infantino argued successfully in 2022 that his initial period in office, from 2016 to 2019, should not count. He said that period completed an interrupted mandate.

Infantino was first elected at an Extraordinary Congress after Sepp Blatter resigned amid a corruption scandal. He was then re-elected without opposition in 2019 and again in 2023.

“The complaint we have filed provides clear evidence that this is a clear breach of the rules and one that sets a very dangerous precedent,” FairSquare director Nicholas McGeehan told Reuters.

“The rules state clearly that three presidential terms is the maximum allowed. Fifa can’t simply circumvent this rule – which serves as a check on presidential power – by saying that his first term doesn’t count.”

Fifa did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.

FairSquare’s submission was prepared with help from Miguel Maduro, the former head of Fifa’s independent Governance and Review Committee. Maduro said Fifa could not ignore rules that applied to its president.

“The principle of term limits was a fundamental aspect of the 2016 reform aimed at limiting power and the rule introduced is clear: no Fifa President can serve more than three terms of office,” Maduro said in a statement.

“Trying to carve out an exception to such a rule for Mr Infantino reveals both a resistance to the principle of term limits and how some at Fifa conceive of rules not as rules but as obstacles to be circumvented.”

A separate FairSquare complaint to the International Olympic Committee over an alleged breach of its political neutrality rules was rejected last month. The complaint concerned Infantino’s support for US President Donald Trump.

Infantino has been an IOC member since 2020.