FIFA's Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour Departs After Public Clash Over World Cup Sell-Off Plan
Kevin Lamour, FIFA's chief operating officer, has left the organisation less than three weeks after publicly calling out its president's aborted plan to sell stakes in major competitions to private investors, BBC Sport reported on 17 August 2026.
A FIFA spokesperson confirmed that Lamour's working relationship with the governing body had ended. FIFA declined to comment on reports that he had been dismissed. Staff learned of the departure through a Monday-evening email from secretary general Mattias Grafstrom, who separately told FIFA Council members — in a letter seen by BBC Sport — that the two sides had "agreed to part ways."
Lamour had been two layers of management below FIFA president Gianni Infantino, and joined the organisation in November 2024 after serving as deputy general secretary at UEFA, European football's governing body.
The departure caps a remarkable three weeks. In late July, Lamour told the Associated Press that FIFA's own administration had been "deceived" about a shelved private-investment scheme known as the FIFA Forward Enterprise, or FFE — a proposal reportedly to sell a stake in the World Cup's commercial rights valued at $4.2 billion (Reuters). Lamour called the plan "the project of one person," and in a statement defending his colleagues, he all but invited Infantino to fire him (Associated Press).
Lamour was not invited to a meeting earlier in August in Morocco, where Infantino received the backing of senior executives. FIFA's leadership subsequently reaffirmed "full support" for the president at a crisis meeting with senior officials of world soccer (Reuters, 10 Aug).
That backing has not quieted the unrest around Infantino. The Football Association officially withdrew its support for the FIFA president on 5 August (BBC Sport), and the head of European Leagues said Infantino's position looked "untenable" after the FFE plan collapsed (Reuters). Infantino apologised for errors but remained in post, and faces a hotly contested election next year amid an internal revolt (NBC Connecticut).
What makes this stand out is the speed and the bluntness. A senior FIFA executive openly accused his own organisation's leadership of deception over a plan to sell part of the World Cup — football's crown jewel — to private investors, and was gone within a fortnight. Whether Lamour walked, was pushed, or fell somewhere in between, FIFA will not say. Either way, the message from the corridors of power is not subtle.
