FIFA confirms departure of senior executive Kevin Lamour after Infantino criticism

Aug 17 (Reuters) - FIFA confirmed on Monday that Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour has left the governing body, ‌weeks after he publicly criticised President Gianni Infantino's ‌plan to sell a stake in its tournament business, including the World Cup. "FIFA ​can confirm that the working relationship between FIFA and Kevin Lamour as FIFA's Chief Operating Officer has ended on 17 August 2026," a FIFA spokesperson said. "FIFA thanks Kevin for his two ‌years of service ⁠and wishes him the best of luck for the future. No further comment will be made ⁠on the matter," the spokesperson added. Lamour had publicly criticised the proposal last month, saying FIFA staff had been "deceived" over the plan ​and describing ​it as "the project of one ​person". "Our mission ... is to ‌serve football. Not to serve the personal interests of a person who, unfortunately, believes he embodies FIFA when he is supposed to be at its service," Lamour said in a statement at the time. Lamour's comments came hours after Carlos Cordeiro, ‌a senior adviser to Infantino, resigned ​in protest at the proposal, calling ​it "a bad deal for ​football". The internal dissent came as FIFA faced widespread ‌opposition to its plan to ​create a $20 billion ​subsidiary to run its tournaments, including the World Cup, and sell up to a 20% stake to external ​investors. FIFA subsequently ‌abandoned the proposal following the backlash. (Reporting by Julien Pretot, ​Natalia Bueno Rebolledo and Janina Nuno Rios; Editing by ​Mark Porter and Christian Radnedge)