29 October – The president of the Jordanian Football Association, Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, has refused to follow Gianni Infantino’s re-election campaign, pledging to cooperate with a judicial review of the AFC while insisting that Jordan will cast its FIFA presidential vote independently.
Prince Ali was referred to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) judicial bodies this week after publicly defying AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa’s statement that Asia was united behind Infantino after the confederation’s congress in Tokyo.
“I respect the AFC and its judicial bodies and will cooperate fully with any proceedings,” Prince Ali said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
“As stipulated in the FIFA Statutes, the Jordanian Football Association will vote independently in the FIFA presidential election.”
The dispute erupted after Sheikh Salman used the October 23 congress to endorse Infantino for another term as FIFA president.
Prince Ali later accused Infantino of using the meeting for political purposes and claimed that delegates had not been allowed to speak, ask questions or engage with the media. He also warned more broadly against coercion, threats and bribery in football elections.
The AFC rejected this account, saying that neither Prince Ali nor any other representative of the member association formally asked to speak and denied that any restrictions had been placed on delegates.
It also said claims involving coercion, threats or bribery required credible evidence before referring Prince Ali’s comments to its judicial bodies for consideration. No disciplinary arrest or sanction has occurred.
Prince Ali has now sought to draw a line between those comments and a direct allegation of corruption, describing them as “a statement of principle, not an allegation against any individual”.
That said, he has not withdrawn his opposition to the position of the AFC leadership.
This matters because Sheikh Salman’s endorsement represents a surprising shift in relations with FIFA. Just three months ago, the AFC was among those rightly attacking Infantino’s handling of FIFA Forward Enterprise, the abandoned proposal to bring private investors into a new commercial subsidiary that would control rights linked to the World Cup and other competitions.
Sheikh Salman described the way it had been handled as a breach of trust before FIFA apologized and dropped the plan.
They seem to have short term memories. Last week, those differences appeared to have been patched up, with Sheikh Salman making a U-turn on Infantino’s position, endorsing him for another term. Infantino, in turn, backed Bahrain’s bid to remain AFC president.
With this in the frame, it’s easy to see how the AFC’s beliefs can change so drastically once the job itself is on the line. The rest of Asia is beginning to notice, and unity is already harder to maintain.
Former Japan coach Takeshi Okada resigned as vice-president of the Japan FA on October 24, saying there was a significant gap between his own beliefs about the integrity of the sport and the direction being taken around FIFA. He acknowledged that there were practical reasons for Japan to align with the AFC, but said he could not personally accept the situation.
FIFA presidential nominations close on 18 November ahead of elections in March 2027.
Sheikh Salman could have promised support from Asia. Prince Ali has now made it clear that Jordan’s vote is not his to promise.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at (email protected)