Support for FIFA president Gianni Infantino is continuing to weaken after Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour left the organisation, a departure one FIFA vice-president called the “final straw”.
Quick facts
- Kevin Lamour has left FIFA after challenging a proposed sale of World Cup commercial rights.
- Eight FIFA vice-presidents include Sandor Csanyi, Aleksander Ceferin, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa and Vittorio Montagliani.
- Infantino is seeking a fourth term in March, which would keep him in office until 2031.
- CAF and CONMEBOL remain supportive of the FIFA president.
FIFA announced on Monday that Lamour had departed, only weeks after he openly opposed Infantino’s proposal to sell part of the commercial rights to the World Cup and other competitions.
The decision led Hungary’s Sandor Csanyi, one of FIFA’s eight vice-presidents and a member of its Council, to retract his backing for Infantino. The president is facing calls to step down from three continental confederations.
In a letter to Infantino, Csanyi said Lamour’s “unexpected dismissal” had been the point at which he could no longer continue his support. He described the former chief operating officer as a highly capable executive who had carried out his responsibilities with strong professional and ethical standards and had helped FIFA operate transparently.
Csanyi argued that Lamour’s criticism of the rights proposal appeared to have caused his removal. He said that was especially troubling because Infantino had later accepted that the initiative was misguided, raising questions about professional judgement, ethics and leadership.
FIFA did not immediately provide a response.
Lamour had previously claimed that employees were misled about the plan, which he characterised as the work of a single individual.
Other FIFA vice-presidents to have criticised Infantino’s behaviour include UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa and CONCACAF president Vittorio Montagliani.
Montenegro’s Dejan Savicevic, a FIFA Council member since 2017 and president of his national football association, said his organisation had also cancelled its earlier letter endorsing Infantino’s candidacy.
Infantino will stand for re-election in March, seeking a fourth term that would run through 2031. Savicevic set out his objections in a letter to FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom.
He described the latest developments at FIFA as deeply alarming, saying they showed a serious failure of communication and openness toward member associations, internal personnel, the FIFA Council and the structures intended to underpin the organisation.
Savicevic said the proposals had exposed worrying weaknesses in FIFA’s governance, both at the political level and inside its administration.
He added that the Football Association of Montenegro shared the position of other European federations and UEFA, and was demanding a comprehensive examination of the FIFA leadership’s conduct.
Israel has likewise withdrawn its endorsement of Infantino’s re-election. The decision was taken unanimously by the board of the Israel Football Association.
Football Association of Wales chief executive Noel Mooney said Infantino should resign after his failed attempt to “sell off the crown jewels” to private-equity investors.
Wales became the first national federation to officially withdraw its support for Infantino earlier this month.
CAF, the African confederation, and CONMEBOL, South America’s governing body, still support the FIFA president despite the resistance from three other confederations.
CAF president Patrice Motsepe, who is also a FIFA vice-president, said any move to remove Infantino should be settled democratically by FIFA’s 211 member associations at next year’s elections rather than by alternative methods.
A CAF spokesperson said Motsepe had no further comment following Lamour’s departure.
