FIFA Fires COO Lamour Weeks After Infantino Clash
FIFA has dismissed its Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Lamour, barely three weeks after he publicly broke ranks with President Gianni Infantino over a now abandoned plan to sell a stake in the body that would have managed the commercial and ticketing rights of FIFA competitions.
FIFA confirmed the exit in a statement issued on Monday, saying, “The working relationship between FIFA and Kevin Lamour as FIFA’s Chief Operating Officer has ended on 17 August 2026.” The statement thanked Lamour for his two years of service and wished him well, adding that no further comment would be made on the matter.
Lamour, a Frenchman who had previously served as deputy general secretary at UEFA before joining FIFA in November 2024, was reportedly the third highest ranking official at the world football governing body. His departure follows weeks of turbulence at FIFA’s Zurich headquarters over the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise, a scheme that would have seen roughly 21 per cent of a new commercial entity sold to private investors.
Lamour had described the plan as “the project of one person” and said FIFA’s administration had been “deceived” about how it was being handled. He also took aim at Infantino’s leadership style directly, saying, “A president must bring people together, unite them, and inspire them. Today, we are experiencing the opposite.” Speaking to the Associated Press in late July, he acknowledged the likely cost of speaking out, saying, “If that means I lose my job, then so be it.”
His remarks came only hours after Carlos Cordeiro, a senior adviser to Infantino and a former United States Soccer Federation president, resigned in protest at the same proposal, calling it “a bad deal for football.” The dual departures exposed a rare and public rift inside an organisation that Infantino has led since 2016.
The FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal drew opposition from several of football’s regional confederations before it was shelved. UEFA, the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football and the Asian Football Confederation all opposed the plan, with UEFA reportedly threatening to boycott the 2026 World Cup were it to proceed. The scale of that pushback, from bodies representing some of FIFA’s most influential member federations, is understood to have been decisive in forcing Infantino to abandon the scheme.
Beyond the immediate personnel changes, the episode has begun to reshape the contest around Infantino’s bid for a fourth term as FIFA president. UEFA and Concacaf have withdrawn their backing for his re election, and the Scottish Football Association joined England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on Monday in pulling its support. The football confederations representing Africa, South America and Oceania have continued to back Infantino, leaving his coalition split along regional lines ahead of any leadership vote.
Lamour’s sacking has been read in parts of the football press as a pointed response to internal dissent, coming so soon after his public criticism and Cordeiro’s resignation. FIFA has not addressed that characterisation directly, limiting its public position to the brief statement confirming the end of Lamour’s tenure. It is not yet clear who will take over his responsibilities at FIFA, nor whether further departures from the organisation’s senior leadership will follow as the fallout from the abandoned sale continues to play out among its member federations.