Fifa president Gianni Infantino’s controversial plan to sell stakes in competitions to private investors is unravelling at speed, with opposition mounting from inside and outside the organisation.
Kevin Lamour, Fifa’s chief operating officer, released a damning statement to the Associated Press on Friday, describing the proposals as “the project of one person.”
Lamour, who sits two layers of management below Infantino, did not mention the president by name but made his target clear throughout the lengthy statement.
“A president must bring people together, unite them, and inspire them,” Lamour wrote. “Today, we are experiencing the opposite.”
He acknowledged a duty of loyalty to his employer but insisted he also owed loyalty to “certain values” and to his colleagues at the governing body.
“If that means I lose my job, then so be it,” he added. “I will understand and respect that decision. At least I’ll sleep well tonight.”
Lamour joined Fifa in November 2024, having previously served as deputy general secretary at Uefa, giving his words particular weight inside football’s corridors of power.
The same day brought further blows for Infantino, as the Asian Football Confederation declared it “stands in solidarity” with European and Concacaf counterparts who have already rejected the proposals.
The AFC warned the plan could not “realistically achieve the necessary broad consensus and unity required to move forward,” adding that any proposal risking the World Cup’s universal character “must be reconsidered.”
Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino’s senior adviser on global strategy and governance, also resigned on Friday, saying the proposal was “a bad deal for football” that would “mortgage football’s future.”
Cordeiro, who had served as a senior Fifa adviser for four years and 11 months and previously represented the governing body on the White House taskforce for the 2026 World Cup, said he “unequivocally” opposed the plans.
“Fifa’s responsibility is not to maximise commercial returns at any cost,” Cordeiro wrote. “It is to protect and strengthen football for future generations.”
He raised pointed questions about the lack of transparency, asking: “Why this deal? Why now? What oversight exists? Who benefits?”
Prime Minister Andy Burnham added his voice to the growing chorus, calling the proposal an “outrageous suggestion” and stating that Infantino is “the wrong man to lead the organisation.”
The numbers now appear to be firmly against the Fifa president, with Uefa’s 55 votes, Concacaf’s 35, and Asia’s 46 potentially combining to block any majority approval of the scheme.
Infantino’s plan involves creating a commercial subsidiary called Fifa Forward Enterprise, with external investors able to buy minority, non-controlling stakes in the new entity.
A 25-page document produced by investment bank JP Morgan projects an estimated increased pay-out of 24 million euros per member association in the 2035-2039 cycle, with the World Cup described as “under-monetised.”
If approved, Thrive Eternal is expected to lead the proposed investor group, a firm founded by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Jared Kushner, son-in-law to US President Donald Trump.
Fifa responded on Friday by vowing to press ahead, insisting “nobody is selling football” and blaming “incorrect media reports” for disrupting the consultation process.
Not all voices are opposed, however, with Rogers Byamukama of the Ugandan Football Federation arguing that “any avenue that brings in more resources is good” for nations reliant on Fifa funding for basic football infrastructure.
