Sándor Csányi sits on the FIFA Council as one of the eight FIFA vice presidents. On Tuesday he sent Gianni Infantino a letter that accuses him, in writing, of “serious shortcomings in professional judgment, ethical standards and leadership” and pulls his support, according to a copy seen by Bloomberg. Csányi called Kevin Lamour’s dismissal “the final straw.”

That framing is sharper than anything voiced publicly against Infantino so far. National federations have threatened to boycott. A senior sponsor has hinted at wanting him gone. This is different: a man Infantino sits beside in the boardroom, chairing the Hungarian Football Federation (MLSZ) and elected to the FIFA vice presidency by his UEFA peers, telling him in writing that his ethics and judgment are failing.

The trigger was FIFA’s confirmation on August 17 that Lamour, the organization’s chief operating officer, would leave. Lamour had joined from UEFA in November 2024, and on July 31 he went public with the accusation that Infantino was misleading staff over a plan to sell stakes in the World Cup and other tournaments to private investors.

“It is the project of one person,” Lamour told reporters. “Not only must this project not go ahead, but the time has now come for football political leaders to ask themselves the right questions and make the right decisions.”

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He said at the time that he expected to be pushed out for speaking.

“If that means I lose my job, then so be it. I will understand and respect that decision. At least I’ll sleep well tonight,” Lamour told the Associated Press.

The plan Infantino had to walk back

The row centers on FIFA Forward Enterprise, or FFE, a proposed commercial subsidiary announced on July 28 that would have raised around $20 billion by selling minority stakes in FIFA’s tournament rights to private investors, with JPMorgan advising and Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Eternal in the mix. It was scrapped within 72 hours. FIFA said the proposal would “not proceed” after opposition from UEFA, Concacaf and the AFC.

“The project has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest of the objective,” the governing body said.

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Infantino later apologized. That climbdown is now central to Csányi’s argument, according to Bloomberg’s account of the letter: firing Lamour for opposing a plan Infantino himself has since disowned is what the Hungarian points to as evidence of failed judgment.

Why a vice president is different from a federation

FIFA’s presidential election works on one member, one vote. Each of the 211 national associations casts an equal ballot at the FIFA Congress, and confederations do not control how their members vote. Public criticism from UEFA or Concacaf leadership is not the same thing as a bloc against Infantino, and on paper Csányi’s letter is a single defection.

In practice it is something else. Vice presidents sit on the FIFA Council, the body that runs day-to-day governance between congresses. Norway’s football president Lise Klaveness has called Lamour’s removal “unacceptable” and described it as “management by fear.” Csányi’s letter takes that atmosphere and puts it on record from inside the FIFA Council itself.

Infantino still has no declared challenger and can point to CAF’s public backing. He now has to run the FIFA Council with a vice president who has told him, in writing, that he no longer supports his leadership.

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