{
  "id": 1636859,
  "title": "Fifa sack chief operating officer critical of president Gianni Infantino",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/fifa-sack-chief-operating-officer-critical-of-president-gianni-1636859",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-18T04:45:07.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The National UAE",
    "slug": "the-national-uae",
    "url": "https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2026/08/18/fifa-sack-chief-operating-officer-critical-of-president-gianni-infantino/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "FIFA has dismissed its Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Lamour, in the wake of his criticism of President Gianni Infantino's ambitious plan to sell a stake in the organization's commercial rights business. The termination of Lamour, who joined FIFA's senior leadership in November 2024, follows mounting opposition to the proposal, which would involve selling up to a 20% stake in the estimated $20bn entity to private equity investors. Lamour accused FIFA staff of being \"deceived\" and called the project a \"one-person\" endeavor. His comments came after fellow Infantino adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned and denounced the deal as detrimental to football. Infantino's bid for a fourth term in office next March is now facing significant challenges, as powerful confederations like UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation, and CONCACAF call for an independent review of his conduct. FairSquare, a human rights organization focusing on sports, has urged FIFA's Governance, Audit, and Compliance Committee to disqualify Infantino from standing for re-election, citing his alleged breach of FIFA's three-term presidential limit.",
  "summary": "Fifa's chief operating officer has been sacked weeks after criticising president Gianni Infantino 's controversial plan to sell a stake in the governing body’s commercial rights business. Football's world governing body confirmed on Monday that Kevin Lamour had departed the organisation, bringing to an abrupt end the tenure of a senior executive who had been part of Infantino’s inner circle…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}