Overview
- FIFA confirmed on Aug. 17 that chief operating officer Kevin Lamour’s working relationship with the organisation ended after he publicly said staff had been “deceived” by the president over a secret proposal to sell a minority stake in World Cup commercial rights.
- The contested plan, called FIFA Forward Enterprise, was valued at about $20 billion and would have sold roughly 20–21% to private investors before Infantino withdrew it under pressure from UEFA, CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation.
- The crisis has split the membership: several powerful confederations and national associations have rescinded support for Gianni Infantino while six Arab federations plus CAF and CONMEBOL have publicly or formally backed him.
- Governance actions now in play include preservation letters, calls for an independent third‑party review, an eligibility challenge from advocacy group FairSquare over presidential term limits, and the formal routes that could lead to an extraordinary congress or a no‑confidence move before March 2027.
- If FairSquare’s complaint about whether Infantino’s 2016–2019 interim term counts toward a three‑term limit succeeds it could bar him from running; otherwise the unfolding disputes make the November candidate deadline and the March 2027 vote the main battlegrounds for settling leadership and trust in FIFA.