Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, president of the Jordan Football Association, has accused FIFA president Gianni Infantino of using “blackmail” and political pressure to secure support for his re-election campaign.
The latest allegations add to the growing controversy surrounding Infantino after FIFA abandoned its disputed FIFA Forward Enterprise investment plan. The proposal would have allowed private-sector investors to buy into the commercial rights of FIFA competitions, including the World Cup.
It was withdrawn after widespread criticism, threats to boycott FIFA tournaments and the decision by the Football Associations of England and Wales to withdraw their support for Infantino’s re-election.
In a statement posted on X, Prince Ali said Jordan had encountered a series of problems during its historic first appearance at the World Cup, but claimed FIFA had failed to help resolve them.
He said thousands of Jordanian supporters who had tickets for matches struggled to obtain visas to enter the United States, while ticket prices had also risen significantly.
Prince Ali also said Jordan’s national team had been required to pay taxes to the United States government through FIFA because it had based its training camp in the country. He argued that the money should instead have gone to the players and coaching staff.
According to Prince Ali, teams that based themselves in Canada or Mexico did not face the same financial obligations.
He further revealed that Jordan’s players had still not received the financial bonuses awarded for finishing runners-up at the 2025 Arab Cup, organised by FIFA in Qatar. Several months had passed since the tournament, he said, while criticising FIFA’s public references to its substantial financial reserves.
Prince Ali alleged that FIFA’s leadership had made assistance for the Jordan Football Association conditional on the association declaring its support for Infantino in the next election.
“For months, FIFA refused to help us with these matters, until I was told verbally during the World Cup that my support for Infantino would help greatly in resolving the Jordan Football Association’s problems,” he said.
He added: “We in Jordan take pride in 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.”
Infantino is facing increased scrutiny after the withdrawal of FIFA Forward Enterprise, which had been designed to attract private investment into the governing body’s commercial rights. The plan became the subject of strong opposition and prompted threats of boycotts involving FIFA competitions.
Prince Ali has previously been one of Infantino’s most prominent challengers. He stood for the FIFA presidency in 2016, having also contested the 2015 election against former FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
Alongside his position at 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.
