Prince Ali, a former FIFA Vice President and the third son of King Hussein of Jordan, has publicly accused FIFA President Gianni Infantino of "blackmail." The accusation, made in a social media post on Tuesday, stems from the Jordanian federation's failure to receive $4.2 million in prize money for reaching the final of the FIFA Arab Cup, which was played last December in Qatar.
According to Prince Ali, who leads the Jordanian federation, he was informed during the World Cup in June—where Jordan made its debut—that endorsing Infantino "it would go a long way to helping our FA out." He firmly rejected this proposition, stating, "We pride ourselves in Jordan in upholding ethical values. We did not endorse him before and certainly will not now."
Prince Ali, who placed third in the five-candidate FIFA presidential contest when Infantino was first elected in February 2016, emphasized his refusal to yield to what he described as pressure. "But the whole situation amounts to blackmail and we refuse to give in to that," he wrote.
The $4.2 million in prize money for the beaten finalist of the 2025 FIFA Arab Cup, where Jordan lost the title match against Morocco, was reported by Jordanian media last year. Prince Ali highlighted the discrepancy, stating, "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."
He further criticized FIFA's leadership, asserting, "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."
Infantino's presidency is currently facing significant pressure, including a fierce backlash from global soccer leaders following his now-failed plan to sell a stake in future World Cup profits to investors, reportedly led by Joshua Kushner. This secretive private equity plan, revealed just a week ago, has caused considerable fallout in soccer politics, with Infantino's former colleagues at European soccer body UEFA now actively seeking a rival candidate for the upcoming election.
FIFA has set November 18 as the deadline for candidates to declare for the presidential election, which will be decided by 211 member federations on March 18 next year in Rabat, Morocco.
