Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein has escalated his criticism of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, accusing world football’s governing body of putting pressure on the Jordan Football Association to support Infantino’s bid for re-election.
The president of the Jordan Football Association said assistance with several issues affecting Jordan had been linked to political support for Infantino, describing the alleged pressure as “blackmail”.
The claims come as Infantino faces growing scrutiny after FIFA withdrew its controversial FIFA Forward Enterprise project. The scheme was intended to allow private-sector investors to invest in the commercial rights of FIFA competitions, including the World Cup.
FIFA abandoned the plan after widespread criticism and threats to boycott its competitions. The Football Association and Football Association of Wales have also withdrawn their support for Infantino’s re-election.
In a statement posted on X, Prince Ali said the Jordanian association had encountered a number of problems during the country’s historic first appearance at the World Cup, but claimed FIFA had offered no help in resolving them.
He said thousands of Jordanian supporters who had tickets for matches struggled to obtain entry visas for the United States. Prince Ali also criticised what he described as a substantial rise in ticket prices.
The Jordan national team was also required to pay taxes to the United States government through FIFA because its training camp was based in the country, he said. According to Prince Ali, that money should instead have gone to the players and coaching staff.
He added that teams based in Canada or Mexico did not face the same financial burden.
Prince Ali also revealed that Jordan’s players had still not received their financial rewards for finishing runners-up at the 2025 Arab Cup, organised by FIFA in Qatar. Several months have passed since the tournament, he said, while criticising FIFA’s public references to its large financial reserves.
The Jordanian official alleged that FIFA’s leadership had tied assistance for the Jordan Football Association to a declaration of support for Infantino in the next election.
“For months, FIFA refused to help us with these issues, until I was told verbally during the World Cup that my support for Infantino would greatly help resolve the Jordan Football Association’s problems,” he said.
“We in Jordan are proud of our moral values. We did not support him before, and certainly will not support him now, because what happened amounts to ‘blackmail’, and we will not submit to such pressure.”
Prince Ali has previously been one of Infantino’s most prominent rivals. He stood for the FIFA presidency in 2016, having also challenged former president Sepp Blatter in the 2015 election.
Alongside his role leading the Jordan Football Association, Prince Ali is president and founder of the West Asian Football Federation. The organisation includes 12 national associations, among them Iraq, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Infantino’s position has come under further pressure following the collapse of the investment project and the loss of backing from the English and Welsh football associations. Prince Ali’s intervention adds another public challenge to the FIFA president as he seeks another term in office.
