FIFA terminated the employment contract of Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour on August 17, 2026, following his public criticism of President Gianni Infantino regarding a controversial plan to sell a minority stake in future World Cup revenue to private investors.
The Dismissal and Official Communications
The global football governing body informed its staff of the leadership change in the evening on Monday, August 17, confirming that the working relationship between FIFA and Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour ended on August 17, 2026. A spokesperson stated that the organization thanked Kevin for his two years of service and wished him the best for the future. The official version communicated by General Secretary Mattias Grafström to vice presidents and members of the FIFA Council described a mutual parting of ways.
Mattias Grafström, General Secretary, stated that following recent discussions, FIFA and their Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Lamour, had agreed to part ways.
Grafström noted Lamour’s work since November 2024, highlighting his contributions to improving relationships with stakeholders and to the realization of several projects of the organization. To the members of the FIFA Council, it was also made known that the decision had been made after careful evaluation and with great respect for Kevin.
Public Rebuke Over World Cup Commercial Plan
The departure follows an intense internal clash sparked by Lamour’s severe criticism of Gianni Infantino and a commercialization scheme targeting the men’s tournament. In a declaration to the Associated Press at the end of July, the executive had maintained that FIFA employees had been “ingannati” by the president’s lack of transparency in preparing the operation, and that they deserved better than contempt and intimidation.
Lamour had defined the project as the project of a single person in reference to Infantino, and added that not only must this project not go forward, but the time had come for the political leaders of football to ask themselves the right questions and make the right decisions. Parole particolarmente pesanti, anche perché Lamour was long close to Infantino, having worked with him at both FIFA and UEFA. The friction centered on a plan, later abandoned, to create a new commercial company that would manage FIFA’s main commercial assets, particularly the men’s World Cups. The proposal foresaw selling a 20% share of the new entity to private investors, with an operation estimated at around 4,2 miliardi di dollari.
The Unraveling of the Investment Scheme
Il piano di Infantino had as its objective to increase financing for the development of football to 10 miliardi di dollari over the next four years. According to details first revealed by the British newspaper The Times, Infantino aimed to establish a society — FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) — open to private investors, which would have managed commercial activities and events organized by FIFA itself.
In a press release, FIFA had announced that FFE aimed to raise 4,2 miliardi di dollari (3,7 miliardi di euro) by the end of 2026 to finance development programs based on an initial capital valuation of 20 billion dollars, carefully selecting long-term investors who would acquire minority stakes without control powers. FIFA had begun working on the project with the New York bank JP Morgan, while among potential investors figured Thrive Eternal, the fund launched by Joshua Kushner, whose brother Jared is married to Ivanka Trump, daughter of Donald Trump.
However, numerous criticisms, including that of UEFA which had threatened to boycott the World Cups, caused the initiative to founder. Infantino withdrew the plan at the beginning of August.
Broader Executive Fallout at Zurich Headquarters
La vicenda had already provoked other consequences at the top levels of FIFA. A few hours before Lamour’s declarations, Carlos Cordeiro, senior adviser to Infantino and former president of the US federation, had resigned, inviting other leaders of the organization to speak openly against the project.
