FIFA Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour has left the organisation, weeks after publicly criticising President Gianni Infantino’s now-abandoned plan to sell a stake in the commercial rights to the World Cup and other tournaments.
FIFA confirmed on Monday that Lamour’s working relationship with the governing body had ended, without giving a reason.
“FIFA can confirm that the working relationship between FIFA and Kevin Lamour as FIFA’s Chief Operating Officer has ended on 17 August 2026,” a FIFA spokesperson said.
Lamour joined FIFA’s senior leadership group in November 2024 after previously being part of Infantino’s campaign team ahead of his election as FIFA president in 2016.
He criticised the proposed rights sale last month, saying FIFA staff had been “deceived” over the plan and describing it as “the project of one person”.
His departure follows that of Carlos Cordeiro, a senior adviser to Infantino who resigned in protest against the proposal and called it “a bad deal for football”. Infantino withdrew the plan later that day.
The proposal involved creating a $20 billion subsidiary and selling up to a 20% stake to private equity investors, with FIFA hoping to raise about $4.2 billion.
Infantino reelection under pressure
The backlash has increased pressure on Infantino ahead of his bid for a fourth term as FIFA president in March.
UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF have opposed the Swiss administrator, while he retains backing from the African and South American confederations.
Human rights organisation FairSquare said on Monday it had asked FIFA’s Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee to rule Infantino ineligible to seek another term.
FIFA presidents are limited to three terms, but Infantino argued in 2022 that his first period in office, from 2016 to 2019, should not count because it completed an interrupted mandate.
FairSquare director Nicholas McGeehan said the organisation’s complaint provided evidence that Infantino’s candidacy would breach FIFA’s rules.
“The rules state clearly that three presidential terms is the maximum allowed,” McGeehan told Reuters.
Miguel Maduro, the former head of FIFA’s independent Governance and Review Committee, also backed the complaint, saying term limits had been a fundamental part of FIFA’s 2016 reforms.
FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations.
Last week, UEFA, the AFC and CONCACAF called for an independent review of Infantino’s conduct over the abandoned rights-sale proposal.
Meanwhile, Scottish Football Association Chief Executive Ian Maxwell told the BBC that Scotland would not support Infantino’s reelection.
Infantino was elected in 2016 following the resignation of Sepp Blatter, was re-elected unopposed in 2019 and again in 2023.
