FIFA’s chief operating officer, Kevin Lamour, has reportedly left his role at football’s governing body just weeks after saying its president, Gianni Infantino, had deceived staff with his World Cup sell-off plan .
Lamour, who is based in Zurich, all but invited Infantino to fire him in a statement to The Associated Press on August 1, 2026, that defended his colleagues amid intense fallout from the plan to sell stakes in future World Cup profits to private equity funds. He released the statement on the same day Infantino’s senior adviser, Carlos Cordeiro, decided to walk away and described the $20 billion commercial subsidiary plan as “a bad deal for football. Britain’s Press Association late Monday (August 17) quoted a FIFA spokesperson as saying: “FIFA can confirm that the working relationship between FIFA and Kevin Lamour as FIFA’s Chief Operating Officer has ended. Infantino withdrew the $20 billion proposal after a furious backlash by global football officials, including European body UEFA , which has warned of a boycott of all FIFA games and events. Infantino has been FIFA president since 2016 and, until the backlash over the so-called FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal, seemed sure to be reelected unopposed next year in Morocco. FIFA has set a November 18 deadline for challengers to come forward.
Lamour wrote that staff were “deceived” by Infantino’s lack of openness in planning.
