Infantino wields the axe after Lamour breaks rank inside Fifa’s fiefdom

SO BE IT

A senior Fifa blazer held in such rare high regard that the prescient synth-pop duo Erasure named a single after him long before he entered the intoxicating world of football administration, Kevin Lamour was a lone dissenting voice inside Fifa’s lair when Gianni Infantino’s plot to flog part of the World Cup to private investors – potentially on the cheap – was rumbled last month. A plan so half-baked it succeeded only in ruining the holidays of Proper Journalists who naively hoped they might enjoy some leisure time after weeks of being studiously ignored by Gianni in the foyers of various luxury hotels dotted across North America, the then chief operating officer of Fifa had witheringly described the sell-off proposal as “the project of one person”. Refusing to sign off on the deal, Lamour said the administration had been “deceived” by Gianni, adding that if speaking up against his boss “means I lose my job, then so be it. I will understand and respect that decision. At least I’ll sleep well tonight.”

While Football Daily presumes the Frenchman has been dozing with one eye open during the fortnight or so that has passed since he aired his reservations in what will have been viewed as an act of gross insubordination, it is worth noting that Gianni’s wheeze was quietly shelved just a few days afterwards. On Monday night, however, Lamour will have slept the sleep of the just after being handed his P45 and booted through the door marked ‘Do One!’ by his now former paymasters. “Fifa can confirm that the working relationship between Fifa and Kevin Lamour as Fifa’s Chief Operating Officer has ended on 17 August 2026,” honked a spokesperson. “Fifa thanks Kevin for his two years of service and wishes him the best of luck for the future. No further comment will be made on the matter.”

Given their now customary lack of transparency, it is no surprise that Fifa is not planning on commenting any further on the matter, but others have been eager to have their say. Never backwards in coming forwards and a constant thorn in Gianni’s side, it was no surprise to see Lise Klavness, head of the Norwegian Football Association shouting from the first cab off the rank. “Now he is thrown out and we are supposed to move on,” she fumed. “It’s unacceptable, it’s management by fear,” she said of the treatment meted out to Lamour, a man she described as the best football administrator she has ever met. “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.”

While the evidence of the Geopolitics World Cup and its aftermath suggest Klaveness might have more luck calling upon fish to stop swimming, her comments have been interpreted as a dig at the Swedish Fifa blazer Mattias Grafström, who is understood to have sacked Lamour at the behest of Gianni, who continues to cling on to power like a barnacle on a ship’s hull. “Individuals, unstable moments and unfortunate episodes come and go,” wrote Grafström in an email sent to staff. “The institution, its mission and its responsibility towards world football continue.” For now, it seems the Fifa sackings will continue until morale improves.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Guys I want to confess something, I’m [eff]ing divorced from the most beautiful woman on your planet. It’s my wife, my ex-wife – I love her unbelievably, but we lost the passion. For many reasons, we lost the passion. I love her? Yes, absolutely. She loves me? Yes, but we lost the passion. How do you play football, because you are paid? Or because of something inside? Where is the passion? In your life, whatever you are going to do, do it with passion. I don’t want any good players. I want players with passion” – in a new Amazon documentary, Pep Guardiola is shown using revelations about his private life to try to end a poor run of results. Yep. Another relationship issue is exposed when the former City manager has a big barney with Kyle Walker.

double quotation markUpon reading the final article in Monday’s missive [full email edition – Football Daily Ed], I noted the final sentence of Memory Lane commenced with “(insert name of whoever is in the news as being on the end of a bad foul, bad behaviour, etc, here)”. I may be doing you a gross disservice but I couldn’t help feeling this was a Wizard of Oz moment where the curtain was momentarily drawn back, revealing (insert witty denouement here)” – Anthony Brady.

double quotation markFurther to Monday’s letter about players’ wages. To put things into perspective, if we estimate the average Premier League player’s wage to be, say, £5m per annum, or £100,000 per week, this works out that in one week such a player gets (hardly earns) more than the likes of Jimmy Greaves earned in his complete football career. If we go back to players like Finney, Milburn and Lofthouse the difference is even greater” – Stewart McGuinness.

double quotation markI’m glad Rob Smyth was dissing a lousy movie and not the Gigli, Beniamino, the Italian tenor, in my humble opinion the best there ever has been. Well, I needed something to take my mind off the football!” – Bob Cushion.

If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Anthony Brady. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.

LIMBS! ABSOLUTE LIMBS!

The word “limbs” is overused in 2026, especially on social media, where it can seemingly apply to any kind of goal celebration among fans behind a set of posts. Yet the limbs in the Canton End at Cardiff City Stadium after Rubin Colwill’s 98th-minute equaliser against Wrexham on Monday night were special, Proper Limbs, if you will. The joy was unbridled as Cardiff, on their return to the second tier, pegged back their monied Welsh rivals in front of more than 30,000 in the capital city and national stadium. The Bluebirds had laboured for more than 90 minutes, after watching their former player Kieffer Moore give Wrexham the lead early on, before Colwill arrowed a magnificent free-kick into the top corner. Even Cardiff head coach Brian Barry-Murphy ended up in the crowd, capping a good old-fashioned night of Championship thrill-ball.

NEWS, BITS AND BOBS

Rodri landed in Barcelona on Monday to complete his move from Manchester City and said it was a “dream” to join the Catalan side. He will have his medical on Tuesday. “There have been some very intense days, but I’m happy that everything has been resolved,” he cheered.

Two of Chelsea’s top brass, chair Todd Boehly and director Mark Walter, are considering selling their shares in the club to the majority owners, Clearlake Capital, in a deal that would give the private equity company total control. Doesn’t sound ominous at all!

Elsewhere, Coventry have landed Taiwo Awoniyi from Nottingham Forest for £9m, while Ipswich have brought in Abdoul Ouattara and Julio Enciso from Gary O’Neil’s old club Strasbourg. And Newcastle have announced the signing of defender Amar Dedic from Benfica for around £30m.

And Patrick Vieira, who was born in Dakar, has been appointed as the new manager of ⁠Senegal.

RECOMMENDED LOOKING

The latest David Squires cartoon is in, baby, and it’s a cracker on new managers causing a stir before the return of the Premier League.

STILL WANT MORE?

This week’s Bigger Cup, Big Vase and Tin Pot qualifiers will see a number of smaller clubs try and make their mark. Billy Munday picks out six games that may tickle your fancy in the coming days.

What’s it like to interview José Mourinho? Daniel Harris chats to those involved with the new Netflix documentary about the artist formerly known as The Special One.

More of our Premier League previews have dropped. Here’s the lowdown on Leeds United and Liverpool.

Teenager Sergio Martínez scored a beauty as Racing Santander made an emotional return to La Liga. Sid Lowe was there to witness their 2-2 draw with Villarreal.

Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City debut in the Community Shield was startlingly bad, says Jonathan Wilson.

And the Rumour Mill is positively fizzing with more transfer whispers. Atlético Madrid now want Julián Alvarez to go to Arsenal! What next?

MEMORY LANE

Leeds, managed by Don Revie (bottom left), celebrate their first title win in 1969. Just four bottles of champagne, two cigars and one fag between nine players. Remarkable restraint given the standards of the time.

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