Sandor Csanyi, one of eight FIFA Council vice presidents, has withdrawn his support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who has faced growing criticism over a plan to open the world governing body to private investors before the project was eventually abandoned.
In a letter to Infantino seen by AFP on Wednesday, Csanyi, who also heads the Hungarian Football Federation, said he had “lost the confidence previously placed” in the FIFA president.
Csanyi cited what he described as “decisions serving political interests rather than those of football,” including during the 2026 World Cup. He also pointed to FIFA’s plan to open the organization to private investors, which he said had been developed “in secret, without informing the FIFA Council.”
“The final straw was the unexpected dismissal of Kevin Lamour,” Csanyi added, referring to the French FIFA official who was ranked No. 3 within the organization.
“My conviction that you are capable of leading FIFA successfully and effectively (...) has been undermined,” the Hungarian official concluded in his letter to the Italian-Swiss executive.
On Monday, FIFA announced Lamour’s departure. He had served as chief operating officer, overseeing key administrative areas including legal affairs, communications and personnel.
Lamour had been one of the most senior FIFA officials to publicly criticize Infantino’s investment plan, describing it as “the project of one person.”
“Not only must this project not see the light of day... but the time has now come for football leaders around the world to ask themselves the right questions and make the right decisions,” Lamour said in a statement sent to the Associated Press and published on July 31.
