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FIFA has been accused of using “management by fear” following the exit of a senior official who had criticised president Gianni Infantino.

Kevin Lamour left his role as FIFA’s chief operating officer on Monday, only a few weeks after saying FIFA staff had been “deceived” by Infantino’s proposals to sell commercial stakes in the World Cup.

Lamour had criticised those proposals and said FIFA staff “deserve better than contempt and intimidation” after being kept in the dark. He also said he would be able to “sleep well tonight” after speaking out.

Lise Klaveness, president of the Football Association of Norway and a long-standing critic of FIFA under Infantino’s leadership, told the Associated Press that she believed Lamour had been dismissed and criticised those within FIFA’s administration for carrying out Infantino’s instructions.

In a statement on Monday, FIFA thanked Lamour for his two years of service and confirmed that “the working relationship between FIFA and Kevin Lamour as FIFA’s chief operating officer has ended”.

“Now he is thrown out and we are supposed to move on. It’s unacceptable, it’s management by fear,” Klaveness told the Associated Press. “Now we also have to call upon FIFA leadership and the administration to not submit to orders you know are not in the interests of football.”

The Independent reported on Monday that it was FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafstrom, rather than Infantino, who held the final discussion with Lamour. Grafstrom also informed FIFA staff of Lamour’s departure by email.

Klaveness told the Associated Press that Grafstrom had “obviously being pressured by the president”. She added: “This is a firing situation, it’s not a resignation.”

Earlier this month, Grafstrom signed FIFA’s statement after their emergency meeting in Rabat, which said Infantino had apologised for “mistakes” over his World Cup plans but that senior FIFA leaders had “reaffirmed their support” for him.

Klaveness praised Lamour for speaking out against Infantino’s World Cup plans, which were dropped after the backlash. In his original statement on 31 July, Lamour said he was prepared to lose his job by voicing his opposition.

“His statement was necessary to kill the project,” Klaveness said. “He said something that was obvious, that was very important that someone within the staff told us the story so that we knew it was not FIFA, as such, but one person.”