Aug 19 (Reuters) – More national football federations and FIFA officials have withdrawn their support for the soccer body’s president Gianni Infantino after the exit of Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour, which one FIFA vice-president described as the “final straw”.
FIFA said on Monday that Lamour had left the organisation, weeks after he publicly criticised Infantino’s plan to sell a stake in the commercial rights of the World Cup and other tournaments.
His exit prompted Hungary’s Sandor Csanyi — one of eight FIFA vice-presidents and a member of the FIFA Council — to withdraw his support for the embattled Infantino, who is under pressure from three confederations to resign.
“The final straw was the unexpected dismissal of Kevin Lamour,” Csanyi wrote in a letter to Infantino, seen by Reuters.
“Kevin performed his duties to a high professional and ethical standard and, as a highly competent executive, made a significant contribution to the transparent operation of the organisation.
“The fact that his dismissal was prompted by his criticism of the above-mentioned initiative — an initiative that you yourself ultimately acknowledged to have been misguided — points to serious shortcomings in professional judgement, ethical standards and leadership.”
FIFA did not respond to a request for comment.
Lamour had said that staff had been “deceived” over the plan which he described as the project of one person.
Other FIFA vice-presidents who have attacked Infantino’s conduct are UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa and CONCACAF president Vittorio Montagliani.
‘EXTREMELY WORRYING’
Montenegro’s Dejan Savicevic, a FIFA Council member since 2017 and president of the country’s football association, said they had also withdrawn their earlier letter of support for Infantino’s candidacy.
Infantino is up for reelection in March as he seeks a fourth term until 2031, and Savicevic wrote a letter to FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom outlining his concerns.
“The recent developments within FIFA are extremely worrying and have shown serious lack of communication and transparency not only to the member associations… but also to the internal members, FIFA Council included, and structures which should hold the foundations of FIFA,” he wrote.
“The proposals put forward exposed concerning vulnerabilities regarding governance, not only at political level but also within the FIFA administration.
“The Football Association of Montenegro agrees with the opinion of other European national associations and UEFA and demands a thorough review of the actions of the FIFA leadership,” he added.
Israel has also withdrawn its support for Infantino’s reelection, according to the Guardian, with the decision being taken unanimously after a meeting of the IFA’s board.
Football Association of Wales (FAW) chief executive Noel Mooney told the BBC that Infantino should resign after his doomed proposal to “sell off the crown jewels” to private equity investors.
Earlier this month, Wales became the first national federation to formally withdraw its support for Infantino.
Despite the opposition of the three confederations, African confederation CAF and South America’s CONMEBOL are currently on Infantino’s side.
CAF president Patrice Motsepe, who is also a FIFA vice-president, warned any attempt to remove him should be decided democratically by FIFA’s 211 member associations at next year’s elections, rather than through other means.
A CAF spokesperson said Motsepe had nothing further to add after Lamour’s exit.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, Additional reporting by Pearl Nazare and Chiranjit Ojha;Editing by Christian Radnedge)
Comments