Kevin Lamour sharply criticized the FIFA president's plan.
As reported by BBC Sport, Kevin Lamour, the chief operating officer of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), was dismissed less than three weeks after he sharply criticized the organization's president Gianni Infantino's plan to sell stakes in competitions to private investors.
A representative of the organization confirmed that "the employment relationship between FIFA and Kevin Lamour as Chief Operating Officer ceased on August 17, 2026."
“FIFA thanks Kevin for his two years of service and wishes him success in the future,” the statement read.
FIFA employees were informed of this by Secretary General Mattias Grafström. His email, sent on Monday evening, stated that the parties "agreed to part ways."
Last month, Lamour described the controversial plans to create the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) company as a "one-man project" and stated that "it is time for football's political leaders to ask themselves the right questions and make the right decisions."
He added that FIFA's own leadership had been "misled" about the project, which they later decided to abandon.
“Our mission—the mission of hundreds of passionate, dedicated, and conscientious FIFA employees—is to serve football,” Lamour said. “The president should unite people, bring them together, and inspire them. Today, we are seeing the exact opposite.”
Lamour admitted that he must be loyal to his employer, but also has obligations to "certain values" and to colleagues whom he must support.
“If this means I will lose my job, then so be it,” he added. “I will accept this decision with understanding and respect. At least tonight, I will sleep peacefully.”
Lamour joined FIFA in November 2024. Previously, he served as Deputy Secretary General of UEFA and was two levels below Infantino in the management hierarchy.
Earlier this month at a meeting in Morocco, Infantino secured the support of high-ranking officials of the organization; however, according to BBC Sport sources, Lamour was not invited to this meeting. The BBC contacted him for comment.
In a letter sent to FIFA Council members and obtained by BBC Sport, Mattias Grafström wrote: "I would like to inform you about an important development concerning personnel changes within the FIFA administration."
“Following recent discussions, FIFA and our Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour have reached an agreement to terminate the employment relationship. This decision was made after careful consideration and with great respect for Kevin as an individual and a professional… I considered it important to personally inform you about this and would like to express my gratitude to Kevin for his contribution, as well as for his daily work and dedication to FIFA. I wish Kevin all the best for the future.”
Infantino faces increasing pressure following his proposal to create a new company to manage commercial rights and ticketing for all FIFA tournaments, including World Cups.
The idea of creating FFE was abandoned after Infantino's plan to sell a 21% stake in the company to private investment firms drew widespread criticism.
UEFA, CONCACAF (the organization governing football in North and Central America and the Caribbean), and the Asian Football Confederation publicly opposed the plan, with UEFA threatening to boycott the World Cup if the project were to be implemented.
Then Lamour criticized Infantino, and FIFA President's senior advisor Carlos Cordeiro resigned.
After the proposal was abandoned, UEFA and CONCACAF stated that they would still not support Infantino's candidacy in the FIFA presidential elections, which are scheduled for March next year.
At the same time, some CONCACAF members, including Mexico, went against their confederation's position and expressed support for Infantino. He was also supported by the confederations of Africa, South America, and Oceania.
On Monday, the Scottish Football Association became another organization to withdraw its support for Infantino. Previously, the football associations of England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland had done so.
The charity FairSquare, which deals with governance issues in football, announced that it had sent a letter to FIFA demanding that Infantino be barred from participating in the elections.
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