Gianni Infantino accused of ‘blackmail’ in damning statement from president of Jordan FA

Gianni Infantino has been accused of ‘blackmail’ by the president of the Jordan Football Association (JFA) in an explosive statement.

Prince Ali bin Al Hussein has hit out at the pressure placed on his FA to endorse Infantino’s re-election campaign.

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The FIFA president is under mounting pressure following his failed move to launch the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE).

His scrapped plans would have introduced the sale of private equity in FIFA events, including the World Cup.

Infantino has since shelved the plans after widespread condemnation and threats of tournament boycotts.

The FAs of both England and Wales have also withdrawn their support for his re-election bid.

Whilst UEFA have called for a blanket withdrawal, Prince Ali has now claimed FIFA refused to help with matters during the World Cup unless his FA endorsed Infantino.

In a statement, he cited issues with obtaining visas for supporters, taxes from the US government and prize money from the 2025 FIFA Arab Cup, where they finished as runners-up.

‘Amounts to blackmail’

Taking to X, Prince Ali wrote: “There is no shortage of issues regarding FIFA.

“Let me start by clarifying what some of these are from an FA perspective, in particular that of Jordan going into a World Cup for the first time.

“We are a small country with a minimal budget for our FA and had to deal with enormous hurdles.

“First, getting our fans into the USA, not all were granted visas, even though they had tickets, which we also know were sold at exorbitant prices.

“Secondly, we are being taxed by the US government through FIFA for our participation. Money that should go to players and staff.

“This was not the case for those who played and set up camp in Canada and Mexico, but we happened to be in the USA so now we face these huge costs in taxes for having participated.

“Thirdly, we have been waiting for reward money for our players since December for the Arab Cup in Qatar, which is a FIFA event.

“The money our team should receive for having reached the final has not been delivered yet, while at the same time FIFA brags about how many billions they have in reserve.

“It is clear the problem really is with leadership. For months, FIFA has been refusing to help us on any of these or other matters, until it was verbally communicated to me during the World Cup that if I endorsed Infantino it would go a long way to helping our FA out.

“We pride ourselves in Jordan in upholding ethical values. We did not endorse him before and certainly will not now, but the whole situation amounts to blackmail and we refuse to give in to that.”

Jordan’s World Cup debut

Jordan made their first-ever World Cup appearance in North America this summer.

Having been drawn in group J, they faced Austria, Algeria and defending champions Argentina.

Although Jordan scored in all three of their matches, they ended the group stage without a single point and were eliminated in fourth place.

Each of those fixtures were played in the USA, with matches two matches in Santa Clara before their loss to Argentina in Dallas.

Meanwhile, Jordan were based in Portland, Oregon throughout the tournament.

The national team subsequently trained at Merlo Field, the home of the University of Portland Pilots football team.

Who is Prince Ali bin Al Hussein?

Prince Ali previously ran against Infantino in the 2016 FIFA presidential election, but finished third with just four votes in round two.

He had previously lost to Sepp Blatter in the 2015 election.

As well as his role as JFA president, Prince Ali is also the founder and president of the West Asian Football Federation.

The governing body currently has 12 member nations, including fellow 2026 World Cup participants Iraq, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

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