FIFA chief operating officer Kevin Lamour calls for Infantino to be removed over World Cup sell-off plan

FIFA chief operating officer Kevin Lamour has publicly called for president Gianni Infantino to be removed, in an intervention that marks an unprecedented rupture inside the governing body. Lamour, a long-time colleague of Infantino at both FIFA and UEFA, spoke out after the controversial plan to sell stakes in future World Cup profits to private investors.

"It is the project of one person," Lamour wrote in a statement to the Associated Press. "Not only must this project not go ahead … but the time has now come for football political leaders to ask themselves the right questions and make the right decisions."

The French official, in post since 2024, said FIFA staff felt deceived by the lack of openness around the plan's announcement and "deserve better than contempt and intimidation." He said he had no intention of resigning, challenging Infantino to fire him instead: "And if that means I lose my job then so be it" Lamour said, "I will understand and respect that decision. At least I’ll sleep well tonight."

The statement came hours after the resignation of Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino's senior adviser and a former Goldman Sachs banker, who urged other executives to speak out. Cordeiro called the planned $20 billion commercial subsidiary "a bad deal for football."

The affair is the most serious threat yet to Infantino's decade-long presidency. UEFA has already announced a boycott of the project, while the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF have voiced their opposition. FIFA has set a November 18 deadline for challengers to come forward: until recently Infantino looked certain to be re-elected unopposed in March.

Lamour, who came to football from politics two decades ago as an aide to then-UEFA president Michel Platini, was part of the inner circle that campaigned for Infantino's surprise victory in the February 2016 election. His public break with the president shows how deeply the sell-off plan has divided FIFA's leadership, as Infantino's position grows ever more fragile.

Sources

• AP News
• Football Italia