Lamour leaves Fifa after Infantino plan criticism

What the report says

Fifa has confirmed that chief operating officer Kevin Lamour has left the organisation, ending his working relationship with the world governing body on 17 August 2026. The departure comes less than three weeks after Lamour publicly criticised president Gianni Infantino over an abandoned plan to sell stakes in competitions to private investors, a move that had attracted significant internal debate.

According to BBC Sport, Fifa told staff about the change in an email from secretary general Mattias Grafstrom. In a separate statement, Fifa thanked Lamour for two years of service and said it wished him well. The governing body did not comment on reports that he had been dismissed.

Lamour, who joined Fifa in November 2024 after serving as deputy general secretary at Uefa, had said the Fifa Forward Enterprise plans were effectively driven by one person and argued that football leaders needed to ask difficult questions. He also accused Fifa’s own administration of being misled about the project. His comments were unusually direct for a senior executive two levels below Infantino in the organisation’s hierarchy.

The episode matters because it highlights tension inside Fifa over leadership, governance and the handling of commercial proposals. BBC Sport also reported that Lamour was not invited to a recent meeting in Morocco where Infantino received backing from senior executives.