BUDAPEST: One of FIFA’s vice presidents has withdrawn his support from the world football body’s embattled president Gianni Infantino, saying the “unexpected dismissal” of critic Kevin Lamour was the “final straw”.

Frenchman Lamour’s position as chief operating officer had become untenable after he broke ranks with senior FIFA directors last month and issued a scathing statement criticising Infantino over his now-scrapped plan to allow private investment in World Cups.

In a letter seen by AFP on Wednesday, FIFA vice-president and council member Sandor Csanyi of Hungary said Infantino has “lost the confidence I previously placed in you”.

“My conviction that you are capable of continuing to lead FIFA successfully and effectively in accordance with the shared values that previously formed the basis of our cooperation has been undermined,” Csanyi, a billionaire businessman and banker and head of the Hungarian Football Federation (MLSZ), said in the letter sent to Infantino on Tuesday.

The letter cited “a number of controversial decisions” around this year’s World Cup, including information that Infantino had been working “on plans to outsource FIFA competitions and place them in the hands of external parties”.

“The final straw was the unexpected dismissal of Kevin Lamour,” it said, adding it “points to serious shortcomings in professional judgement, ethical standards and leadership”.

On Tuesday, European football body UEFA vice-president Laura McAllister said FIFA’s dismissal of Lamour sent a “deeply troubling message to all of us seeking change”

‘SELF-DESTRUCT’

Meanwhile, Premier League chief executive Richard Masters says Infantino pressed the “self-destruct button” over his botched plan to bring private investment into the World Cup.

“This is a problem of FIFA’s making,” Masters told the BBC. “This is a self-inflicted wound. The organisation has pressed the self-destruct button, and the consequences of that flow now into the solutions that need to be found.

“I don’t think FIFA should be ever contemplating selling off a stake in the World Cup.

“They’re a not-for-profit organisation. They should really be holding that competition in trust for the future of football.”

Masters added: “I think it’s a bad idea, and the FA have taken the right position regards to Gianni.”

As for a possible rival to Infantino, up for re-election next year, Masters said: “I think an emerging unity candidate should have on his or her agenda reform of FIFA, and perhaps even reform of the president’s role and how it interacts with those things.”

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2026