FIFA’s World Cup planning has been overshadowed by the removal of chief operating officer Kevin Lamour, a senior executive who had publicly opposed Gianni Infantino’s proposal to bring private investors into the tournament.
Kevin Lamour removed after World Cup investment dispute
Quick facts
- Kevin Lamour, 45, was dismissed as FIFA chief operating officer on Monday.
- He had held the position for nearly two years.
- Lamour opposed a plan to open the World Cup to private investment.
- The proposal has been supported by United States President Donald Trump.
- FIFA presidential adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned in late July over the same issue.
Lamour sent a farewell message to FIFA staff after his departure, urging them to put fairness ahead of convenience. “Life is not about doing what is easy, but about doing what is right,” he wrote, saying most employees had understood that principle in their work.
The French official had become one of the most prominent internal critics of Infantino’s World Cup investment project. In late July, he said the idea was driven by “personal interests” and argued that it should not proceed.
He also questioned the direction of FIFA’s leadership, saying a president should bring people together, unite them and inspire them. “Today we are seeing the opposite,” Lamour said in his earlier criticism of Infantino.
His exit is the most significant senior departure at FIFA during the dispute over the tournament’s commercial structure. Cordeiro, an adviser to Infantino, stepped down at the end of July after raising the same objections.
In his message to colleagues, Lamour thanked several figures within FIFA, including deputy secretary general Mattias Grafström and FIFA chief of global football development Arsène Wenger. He did not mention Infantino.
“FIFA is going through a difficult period, but do not worry,” Lamour wrote. “Things will eventually be put right. If everything is not well, then it is not yet the end.”
Before joining FIFA’s senior leadership, Lamour worked closely with Michel Platini during Platini’s presidency of UEFA from 2007 to 2015.
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| Kevin Lamour dismissed by FIFA after opposing World Cup private investment plan | FIFA chief operating officer Kevin Lamour has been removed after criticising plans to bring private investors into the World Cup, as the governance dispute reaches senior levels. |
