The report says O’Toole was deeply involved as the proposal advanced toward a five-person group on the eve of the World Cup final. That matters because this was not just another internal briefing; it appears to have been a decisive moment in a project that touched the future commercial shape of football’s biggest tournament.
O’Toole’s rise inside also makes the story more revealing. He is reported to have joined after the post-Blatter reform era and to have worked on the financial side of the Forward programme. If that background helped make him influential in this plan, it also raises a harder question: who else inside the organisation was really being consulted?
The sharpest criticism seems to have come from within. Lamour reportedly described the proposals as “the project of one person”, a line that lands heavily because it points straight at the leadership style around Gianni Infantino. The report also says senior figures pushed back, with opposition inside that bureau exposing a split at executive level rather than a routine policy disagreement.
That matters for ’s credibility. A body that has spent years trying to present itself as more modern and accountable cannot afford another saga centred on secrecy and narrow decision-making.
If hoped the issue would fade once the proposal was shelved, UEFA appears unconvinced. Its response, quoted in the report, was brutal: “That some people employed by the Fifa president (and whose careers depend on his favour) agree with him changes nothing.”
That leaves the next storyline obvious enough. Watch for whether this becomes a contained embarrassment or a wider political fight over Infantino’s authority before the next major gathering.