President of Jordanian FA accuses FIFA of 'blackmail' over Infantino reelection

Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, former FIFA presidential candidate and JFA president, accused FIFA of trying to "blackmail" the Jordanian Football Association into supporting Gianni Infantino's bid for reelection as FIFA boss. In a post on his X feed on Tuesday, Prince Ali wrote that his organization asked FIFA for assistance with three separate issues this year but was told he needed to endorse Infantino first.

The first issue was related to difficulties Jordan, who qualified for their first ever World Cup this summer, had in securing visas for fans who had bought tickets "at exorbitant prices". The second request was for help with American taxes that Jordan's players and staff are liable for after their stay in the U.S., which the JFA had not budgeted for. Finally, Prince Ali claims Jordan are still owed prize money from December's FIFA Arab Cup in Qatar, where they went unbeaten to the final before losing 3-2 to Morocco. Prince Ali ran unsuccessfully against Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency in 2015 and then against Infantino and Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa in 2016.