Jordan's FA accuses Fifa of 'blackmail' as pressure grows on Infantino
The organisation's president, Prince Ali bin Hussein, said he would not support Infantino's re-election, adding:"We did not endorse him before and certainly will not now."
Fifa has been accused of “blackmailing” Jordan over World Cup money in return for their support for Gianni Infantino to stay on as president.
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The Swiss is under mounting pressure amid the fallout from a plan to seek private investors in a company to run FIFA’s tournaments, including the men’s and women’s World Cups.
Jordan's FA president, Prince Ali bin Hussein, said his country encountered "enormous hurdles" while competing at the World Cup.
The support of national associations in Asia could prove critical to Infantino's survival but the president of the Jordanian Football Association, Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, wrote on X that his organisation “certainly” would not endorse Infantino after alleging FIFA sought to secure his support by promising it would help with the recovery of money he said was owed to the JFA.
Prince Ali, who stood for the FIFA presidency in 2015 against Sepp Blatter and against Infantino the following year, hit out at the difficulties faced by Jordanian fans seeking to enter the United States for this summer’s World Cup and the “exorbitant” price of tickets, and detailed the “huge costs” in taxes his association faced due to being based in the US rather than Canada or Mexico for the finals.
He then revealed Jordan was still awaiting prize money from last year’s Arab Cup, which is organised by FIFA, “while at the same time FIFA brags about how many billions they have in reserve”.
“It is clear the problem really is with leadership,” Prince Ali added.“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.”
It comes as an 'anti-Infantino' alliance is forming among Fifa members as they attempt to oust the hated president over his bungled attempt at selling off a stake in the World Cup.
Mr Hussain said Jordan's FA would not support Infantino's re-election, adding:"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."
Fifa declined to respond to Prince Ali’s remarks.
Leaders of national federations and some continental bodies are planning to "paralyse Fifa" and are prepared to launch a rival global football competition if the Swiss-Italian Infantino does not step down as president.
The collapse of Infantino's plan to sell off a stake in the World Cup to private investors has left him in a perilous position ahead of his re-election bid.
The leaders of European (Uefa), North American (Concacaf), and Asian (AFC) football are now determined to oust Infantino.
The Times reports that the federations from these continents could boycott Fifa's council and committee meetings, leaving the organisation unable to work.
Uefa, which has a blueprint for a global version of its Nations League, is said to be willing to establish rival World Cup-style competitions in order to force Infantino from office.
Infantino is currently seeking a fourth term and is the only declared candidate - but only 15 of Fifa's 211 member nations have been willing to place their support on the record since the plan to sell off the World Cup was confirmed.
One source told The Times: “Everyone is very determined he needs to go, and if not we will take all the necessary steps [to remove him from power]. That includes future international competitions — would the big South American countries prefer to play France or Spain, or Lebanon or Djibouti?
“Everyone is very determined, there are no backward steps now.”
The latest blow comes after the English FA withdrew its support for Infantino's election on Monday - with the FA of Wales doing so last week.
Over the weekend, the English FA called for a "robust review" of Fifa's leadership over its investment plan, and told LBC on Monday that it will write to the governing body to withdraw its support.
The $20billion sell-off was sensationally ditched last week amid a furious backlash from across the footballing world.
In a statement on Saturday, Mr Infantino said: "Having listened carefully to all the views, it has become clear that the project has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place.
"Our purpose has always been - and will always be - to unite and improve. As a result, this proposal will not proceed.
"Moving forward, my intent is to bring all interested parties back together in the coming days and weeks in the spirit of shared interest in our game, and with the objective to continue growing football everywhere, and particularly in those countries that mostly need our support."