Fifa accused of ‘management by fear’ after Gianni Infantino critic sacked
Fifa has been accused of “management by fear” after the departure of a top official who criticised president Gianni Infantino.
Kevin Lamour left his position as Fifa’s chief operating officer on Monday, just weeks after he said that Fifa staff had been “deceived” by Infantino’s plans to sell off commercial stakes in the World Cup.
Lamour criticised those plans and said Fifa staff “deserve better than contempt and intimidation” after they were left in the dark. He also said he would be able to “sleep well tonight” after speaking out.
Lise Klaveness, the head of the Football Association of Norway and a long-time critic of Fifa under Infantino’s leadership, told the Associated Press that she believed Lamour had been fired and criticised those in the Fifa administration for following Infantino’s orders.
Fifa thanked Lamour for his two years of service in a statement on Monday and confirmed the “the working relationship between Fifa and Kevin Lamour as Fifa’s chief operating officer has ended”.
“Now he is thrown out and we are supposed to move on. It’s unacceptable, it’s management by fear,” Klaveness told the Associated Press. “Now we also have to call upon Fifa leadership and the administration to not submit to orders you know are not in the interests of football.”
The Independent reported on Monday that it was Fifa’s secretary general Mattias Grafstrom, rather than Infantino, who had the final discussion with Lamour. Grafstrom also informed Fifa staff of Lamour’s departure via email.
Klaveness told the Associated Press that Grafstrom had “obviously being pressured by the president”. She added: “This is a firing situation, it’s not a resignation.”
Earlier this month, Grafstrom signed Fifa’s statement following their emergency meeting in Rabat which said Infantino had apologised for “mistakes” over his World Cup plans but senior Fifa leaders “reaffirmed their support” for him.
Klaveness praised Lamour’s role in speaking out against Infantino’s World Cup plans, which were scrapped amid uproar. Lamour said in his initial statement on 31 July that he was prepared to lose his job by voicing his opposition.
“His statement was necessary to kill the project,” Klaveness said. “He said something that was obvious, that was very important that someone within the staff told us the story so that we knew it was not Fifa, as such, but one person.”
The Independent has approach Fifa for comment
