FIFA COO Departs as Infantino’s Leadership Faces Backlash Over Controversial Plan
Leadership Shakeup and Controversy at FIFA
By Rohith Nair
Aug 17 (Reuters) - FIFA said on Monday that Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour had left the organisation, weeks after he publicly criticised Gianni Infantino's plan to sell a stake in the commercial rights of the World Cup and other tournaments.
Lamour joined the senior leadership group of soccer's global governing body in November 2024, having previously been part of the inner circle that campaigned for Infantino's election as FIFA president in 2016.
"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 on Monday.
"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’s Criticism of Infantino’s Commercial Rights Proposal
Lamour had publicly criticised the proposal last month, saying FIFA staff had been "deceived" over the plan and describing 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.
Backlash Against Infantino’s Plan
Infantino’s Reelection in Doubt
BACKLASH PUTS INFANTINO'S REELECTION IN DOUBT
Frenchman Lamour's comments came soon after Carlos Cordeiro, a senior adviser to Infantino, resigned in protest at the proposal, calling it "a bad deal for football". Infantino withdrew the proposal later the same day.
The backlash to the plan to create a $20 billion subsidiary and sell up to a 20% stake to private equity investors to raise $4.2 billion has not abated, however.
Infantino's bid for reelection for a fourth term as president in March next year, which once looked a formality, is now far from certain.
Powerful European confederation UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and CONCACAF are ranged in opposition to the 56-year-old Swiss supremo, although he retains the support of the African and South American confederations.
Human rights in sport organisation FairSquare confirmed on Monday it had written to FIFA's Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee (GACC) urging that Infantino be ruled ineligible to seek another term as president.
Allegations of Rule Breaches
'CLEAR BREACH OF RULES'
While FIFA presidents are limited to three terms, Infantino successfully argued in 2022 that his first stint in office from 2016 to 2019 should not count towards that limit because it completed an interrupted mandate.
Infantino was initially elected at an Extraordinary Congress following the resignation of Sepp Blatter amid a corruption scandal. He was reelected unopposed in 2019 and 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.
Calls for Independent Review
Last week, UEFA, the AFC and CONCACAF, which runs football in the Caribbean, North and Central America, called for an independent review of Infantino's conduct.
Sources with knowledge of the situation said the three confederations viewed the letter as an opportunity for Infantino to quit with his dignity intact.
National Associations and Governance Concerns
SCOTTISH FEDERATION WILL NOT BACK INFANTINO
Several national associations have also voiced concerns. Scottish Football Association Chief Executive Ian Maxwell told the BBC on Monday that his federation would not support Infantino's reelection.
FairSquare's letter to the GACC was drafted with the assistance of Miguel Maduro, the former head of FIFA's independent Governance and Review Committee, who said the governing body could not disregard its own rules.
"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."
Infantino’s IOC Membership and Political Controversy
A FairSquare complaint to the International Olympic Committee over Infantino's alleged breach of the body's rules on political neutrality because of his support for U.S. President Donald Trump was rejected last month. Infantino has been an IOC member since 2020.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot, Rohith Nair, Natalia Bueno Rebolledo and Janina Nuno Rios; Writing by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by Jamie Freed)
