![\"file-uefas-deputy-general-secretary-kevin-lamour-centre-looks-on-as-he-stands-next-to-uefa-president-aleksander-ceferin-right-prior-to-the-start-of-a-group-f-match-between-turkey-and-georgia-at\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787039111_967_.jpeg\")
\n Kevin Lamour (centre) while serving as Uefa deputy general secretary Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n
FRENCHMAN KEVIN LAMOUR has left his role as Fifa\u2019s chief operating officer after criticising president Gianni Infantino\u2019s scrapped private investor plan, world football\u2019s governing body confirmed.<\/p>\n
Lamour was the third highest-ranking Fifa official.<\/p>\n
\u201cFifa can confirm that the working relationship between Fifa and Kevin Lamour as Fifa\u2019s chief operating officer has ended on 17 August 2026,\u201d a Fifa spokesperson told AFP, confirming a report in The Athletic.<\/p>\n
\u201cFIFA thanks Kevin for his two years of service and wishes him the best of luck for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
A former employee of European governing body Uefa, Lamour had served as Fifa COO since November 2024.<\/p>\n
\n Kevin Lamour (centre) while serving as Uefa deputy general secretary Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n
Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n
He was one of the highest-ranking Fifa figures to speak out against Infantino\u2019s proposal to sell stakes in competitions, including the World Cup, to private investors.<\/p>\n
Lamour described the plan as \u201cthe project of one person\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe time has now come for football political leaders to ask themselves the right questions and make the right decisions,\u201d he said in a statement sent to the Associated Press (AP) and published on 31 July.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf that means I lose my job, then so be it,\u201d he added. \u201cI will understand and respect that decision. At least I\u2019ll sleep well tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Secretary general Mattias Grafstrom, considered Infantino\u2019s number two, and chief of global football development Ars\u00e8ne Wenger both later welcomed the decision to ditch the proposal.<\/p>\n
Former Arsenal manager Wenger said it was \u201cabsolutely necessary\u201d to scrap it.<\/p>\n
The controversy has left Infantino\u2019s position under threat for the first time since he was first elected in 2016.<\/p>\n
European football\u2019s governing body Uefa, North and Central America\u2019s CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation released a joint letter earlier this month declaring \u201cfootball belongs to no individual\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRENCHMAN KEVIN LAMOUR has left his role as Fifa\u2019s chief operating officer after criticising president Gianni Infantino\u2019s scrapped…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":643169,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,10,18,13,14,34476,272101,74963,6,19,17,272102,11,12,15,16,5,7,8,19413],"class_list":["post-643168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-fifa","tag-fifa-coo","tag-gianni-infantino","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kevin-lamour","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-uefa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117115403334103607","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}