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

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.

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. It’s my wife, my ex-wife – I love her unbelievably, but we lost the passion.

For many reasons, we lost the passion. Yes, but we lost the passion. How do you play football, because you are paid?

Or because of something inside? 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. Another relationship issue is exposed when the former City manager has a big barney with Kyle Walker. Upon 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)”.