Fifa’s decision to dismiss senior executive Kevin Lamour following his criticism of president Gianni Infantino sends a “deeply troubling message to all of us seeking change”, says Uefa vice-president Laura McAllister.

Lamour had held the position of chief operating officer at Fifa and his departure was confirmed on Monday evening.

His dismissal came just over two weeks after he released a statement saying the world governing body’s administration had been “deceived” by Infantino over a plan to sell stakes in competitions to private investors.

Uefa executive committee member McAllister, a former Wales captain who worked with Lamour at European football’s governing body when he was its deputy general secretary, released a statement criticising his sacking.

“I know Kevin Lamour to be an honourable and exemplary sports leader who was a trusted colleague of mine when I was first elected to Uefa Ex Co,” said McAllister.

“Kevin is not only a deeply principled leader who cares passionately for football, but a brave advocate for the values that should underpin all we do as custodians of our game.

“During the shabby events of the past weeks, he showed himself to be a courageous advocate for the most important stakeholders in football.”

Fifa aborted a plan to sell stakes in the body’s football competitions on 1 August, one day after Lamour’s statement, which described the scheme as “the project of one person”.

Senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro had resigned earlier the same day, putting pressure on Infantino, who ultimately received the backing of senior Fifa executives in a meeting in Morocco where Lamour was not present.

Uefa has already said it has lost confidence in Infantino, calling the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal a “shabby, back room, opaque deal”.

It subsequently released an open letter alongside the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Concacaf, the North American confederation, in which they accused Fifa and Infantino of breaking trust “through deception”.

The Football Associations of England, Wales, the Republic of Ireland and Scotland have withdrawn their support for Infantino and will not not be voting for his re-election as president in early 2027.

“Having worked with Kevin, I know that his leadership always operates on principles of respect, independence, transparency and sound governance,” added McAllister.

“Kevin’s sacking seriously weakens Fifa’s administration, whilst undermining this unique opportunity to shift the culture at Fifa and to reset the organisation on sporting values, not simply commercial and financial ones. Fifa is not the president, it is the whole football family.

“As I have said repeatedly, world football needs strong, principled, independent leaders who are prepared to speak up, challenge when necessary, and stand firmly by their values and those of the global game.

“Instead, the loss of a leader of Kevin’s calibre sends a deeply troubling message to all of us seeking change.”

A decade on, all but one – Lily Owsley – of that golden team has retired from playing internationally.

Team GB would go on to win bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, but from Paris in 2024 they left empty-handed, the first Games since 2008 the British women’s squad had not won an Olympic medal.

Since 2021, GB or England – as they play outside the Olympics and FIH Pro League – have not won a medal at a major tournament, with the exception of Commonwealth gold in 2022.

In the annual Pro League, they have not finished higher than seventh – in a nine-team tournament – in each of the past three editions.

Conversely, the men’s team have thrice finished among the Pro League medals since 2022, and won European silver in 2023.

At the ongoing World Cup in Belgium and the Netherlands, England’s men have won both their pool matches so far, while the women beat South Africa but lost to China.

“We do have peaks and troughs in performance. Most nations do if you look at it,” England Hockey chief executive Rich Beer told BBC Sport.

“But when we look at the underlying data and the wider information available to us, we’re confident we can see progress being made.”

But one former GB women’s international, who asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships within the sport, told BBC Sport that hockey missed a major opportunity to capitalise on its landmark moment.

England Hockey “wasn’t ready to win” in 2016, she said, arguing that the organisation lacked the commercial, marketing and participation infrastructure needed to convert Olympic success into long-term growth.

“We weren’t proactive enough,” she added.

Beer, who was appointed chief executive in 2025, says the governing body did make efforts to build on the success, pointing to the 2018 Women’s World Cup in London and growth in junior club participation. England will also host next year’s European Championships.

“We did our best, don’t get me wrong,” he says.

“We went on to host a Women’s World Cup in 2018, where we had more than 100,000 fans at Lee Valley.

“But I think consistent visibility is one of the biggest challenges facing Olympic sports.”

Beer says England Hockey has changed its approach over the past two years in an effort to raise the sport’s profile, including reacquiring broadcast rights and moving matches away from behind a paywall.

“We’ve done more around the international game to try to raise the profile,” he says. “That has really driven greater viewership of the sport.”