FIFA President Gianni Infantino Faces 'Blackmail' Allegation From Jordan FA Chief

• FIFA president Gianni Infantino is facing blackmail allegations amid rising pressure on the world football governing body
• The Jordan FA president alleged that FIFA verbally linked prize money owed to his association to a request for his endorsement of Infantino
• Jordan is still waiting for prize money from the 2025 Arab Cup final, which FIFA has reportedly refused to address for months

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has been accused of attempting to use Jordan's outstanding prize money as leverage to secure political support, with Jordanian Football Association president Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein describing the alleged move as 'blackmail'.

Prince Ali made the explosive claim on X, alleging that a verbal message was delivered to him during the 2026 FIFA World Cup suggesting that endorsing Infantino would help Jordan's football federation resolve its outstanding issues.

Jordan has reportedly been waiting since 2025 for prize money linked to its participation in the FIFA Arab Cup in Qatar. The country finished as runners-up after losing 3-2 to Morocco in the final.

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Prince Ali accuses FIFA of blackmail

In his post, Prince Ali said the prize money was only one of several issues that had allegedly gone unresolved.

He also raised concerns about the difficulties Jordanian fans faced obtaining US visas, expensive World Cup tickets and the "huge costs" in taxes incurred by his federation because they played their games in the United States rather than Canada or Mexico.

He then detailed the alleged conversation that took place during the tournament.

"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," he wrote.

"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."

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Below is Prince Ali's post on X:

According to ESPN, FIFA declined to respond to the allegations.

Infantino faces growing FIFA scrutiny

The claims arrive as Infantino faces wider scrutiny over plans that could see private investors become involved in a company managing FIFA competitions, including the men's and women's World Cups.

The move has since been aborted after massive public backlash and non-support from member associations.

Prince Ali is also a long-standing rival of Infantino. He challenged Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency in 2015 before facing Infantino in the 2016 election.

His latest comments could therefore carry political significance, particularly because Jordan is part of the Asian Football Confederation, whose members could prove important in any future leadership contest.

For now, the allegations remain unsubstantiated publicly, with FIFA yet to respond to Prince Ali's claims.

Source: YEN.com.gh