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\nMore national football federations and Fifa officials have withdrawn their support for the soccer body\u2019s president Gianni Infantino after the exit of Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour, which one Fifa vice-president described as the \u201cfinal straw\u201d.
\nFifa said on Monday that Lamour had left the organisation, weeks after he publicly criticised Infantino\u2019s plan to sell a stake in the commercial rights of the World Cup and other tournaments.
\nHis exit prompted Hungary\u2019s Sandor Csanyi \u2014 one of eight Fifa vice-presidents and a member of the Fifa Council \u2014 to withdraw his support for the embattled Infantino, who is under pressure from three confederations to resign.
\n\u201cThe final straw was the unexpected dismissal of Kevin Lamour,\u201d Csanyi wrote in a letter to Infantino, seen by Reuters.
\n\u201cKevin 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.
\n\u201cThe fact that his dismissal was prompted by his criticism of the above-mentioned initiative \u2014 an initiative that you yourself ultimately acknowledged to have been misguided \u2014 points to serious shortcomings in professional judgement, ethical standards and leadership.\u201d
\nFifa did not respond to a request for comment. Lamour had said that staff had been \u201cdeceived\u201d over the plan which he described as the project of one person.
\nOther Fifa vice-presidents who have attacked Infantino\u2019s conduct are Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin, AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa and Concacaf President Vittorio Montagliani.
\n\u2018Extremely worrying\u2019
\nMontenegro\u2019s Dejan Savicevic, a Fifa Council member since 2017 and president of the country\u2019s football association, said they had also withdrawn their earlier letter of support for Infantino\u2019s candidacy.
\nInfantino 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.
\n\u201cThe 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,\u201d he wrote.
\n\u201cThe proposals put forward exposed concerning vulnerabilities regarding governance, not only at political level but also within the Fifa administration.
\n\u201cThe 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,\u201d he added.
\nIsrael has also withdrawn its support for Infantino\u2019s reelection, according to the Guardian, with the decision being taken unanimously after a meeting of the IFA\u2019s board.
\nFootball Association of Wales (FAW) chief executive Noel Mooney told the BBC that Infantino should resign after his doomed proposal to \u201csell off the crown jewels\u201d to private equity investors.
\nEarlier this month, Wales became the first national federation to formally withdraw its support for Infantino.
\nDespite the opposition of the three confederations, African confederation CAF and South America\u2019s Conmebol are currently on Infantino\u2019s side.
\nCAF President Patrice Motsepe, who is also a Fifa vice-president, warned any attempt to remove him should be decided democratically by Fifa\u2019s 211 member associations at next year\u2019s elections, rather than through other means.
\nA CAF spokesperson said Motsepe had nothing further to add after Lamour\u2019s exit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Z\u00fcrich More national football federations and Fifa officials have withdrawn their support for the soccer body\u2019s president Gianni Infantino after the exit of Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour, which one Fifa vice-president described as the \u201cfinal straw\u201d. Fifa said on Monday that Lamour had left the organisation, weeks after he publicly criticised Infantino\u2019s plan to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562945,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-562928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n