Senior FIFA executive says staff were deceived over Infantino's World Cup sell-off plan

GENEVA (AP) — FIFA's chief operating officer said its staff were deceived by their president Gianni Infantino's World Cup sell-off plan, and suggested on Friday the project must not go ahead. Zurich-based executive Kevin Lamour all but invited Infantino to fire him in a statement to The Associated Press that defended his colleagues amid intense fallout from the FIFA boss' plan to sell stakes in future World Cup profits to private equity funds. Soccer Federation president said he was not included in talks about the plan backed by a New York investment fund created by Joshua Kushner. “Let me be clear. I had no involvement in this proposal, and I oppose it unequivocally,” Cordeiro said. He called the $20 billion commercial subsidiary “a bad deal for football.” Lamour did not resign the post he has held since 2024 but said he had a duty to his colleagues. “And if that means I lose my job then so be it” the French official said. “I will understand and respect that decision.

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