"If that means I lose my job, then so be it. I will understand and respect that decision. At least I'll sleep well tonight." Kevin Lamour said those words in July. By August 17th, he was out.
FIFA confirmed this week that its chief operating officer — one of the most senior figures in world football to publicly attack Gianni Infantino's plan to sell private equity stakes in the World Cup — has been dismissed. FIFA's statement was four lines of corporate nothing: two years of service, best of luck, no further comment. The Guardian called it a sacking. The Press Association called it a dismissal. Staff found out via an email from secretary general Mattias Grafstrom.
Lamour, a French-Swiss administrator who arrived at FIFA in November 2024 after serving as deputy general secretary of UEFA, didn't mince words when he went public. He called Infantino's private equity scheme "the project of one person" and said he and colleagues felt deceived. That kind of language, from someone with his access and seniority, wasn't a leak or a whisper — it was a direct challenge to the presidency.
The plan that collapsed — and the fallout that didn't
Infantino's idea, floated shortly after the 2026 World Cup, was to consolidate the tournament's commercial rights — broadcast, sponsorship, ticketing, licensing — into a new venture and sell minority stakes to private investors. He framed it as a way to raise billions for reinvestment in the game. UEFA, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation saw it differently: as handing ownership influence over the world's biggest sporting event to outside parties with no particular loyalty to football.
UEFA threatened a full boycott of FIFA tournaments. Carlos Cordeiro, a former US Soccer president and Infantino's own senior adviser, resigned the day FIFA backed down. The plan is dead — for now — but the political wreckage is still smoking.
Within Asia, a fresh row has broken out over the AFC's decision to join the opposition letter. The Qatar Football Association claimed AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa had exceeded his authority. Sheikh Salman responded in writing, categorically denying it, pointing out that AFC presidents have issued public statements on matters of significance before — including backing Qatar's 2022 World Cup bid under global pressure — without any procedural objection from Doha at the time.
"I therefore find it difficult to reconcile the sudden and selective criticism contained in the QFA Letter with the QFA's historical acceptance of this general practice," Sheikh Salman wrote. It was a pointed observation, and a fair one.
Infantino's position is shakier than his office suggests
Qatar and Morocco — two nations with deep financial and political ties to the Infantino project — were among six Arab federations to publicly back the FIFA president this month. CAF, the African confederation, has also stayed in his corner. But Europe is gone, Concacaf is gone, and Asia is fractured.
Scotland's football association is the latest to announce it won't back Infantino in the next presidential election. The Football Association of Ireland last week withdrew a letter of support it had previously issued. The private equity plan may be shelved, but the presidents who backed it down aren't finished with him.
For anyone tracking FIFA governance — and for anyone with a passing interest in how the World Cup's commercial value gets carved up — Lamour's dismissal is the clearest signal yet that dissent inside FIFA has a price. He said he'd sleep well. He's also now unemployed.
