Jordan FA President: Infantino Tried To Blackmail Us
Jordan FA President calls out FIFA over tickets, visas and “minimal budget.”
“We refuse to give in” says Jordan FA President accuses Infantino of blackmail...
Jordan Football Association President Prince Ali bin Al Hussein launched a public attack on FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Tuesday, accusing him of “blackmail” and claiming FIFA offered to help the kingdom in return for his endorsement.
Bin Hussein said FIFA communicated verbally during the World Cup that endorsing Infantino “would go a long way to helping our FA out,” after months of the governing body refusing to assist on several issues.
“We pride ourselves in Jordan in upholding ethical values. We did not endorse him before and certainly will not now,” Bin Hussein wrote on X.
“But the whole situation amounts to blackmail and we refuse to give in to that.”
His criticism comes as Infantino faces mounting pushback across football’s leadership, after the FIFA president was forced to drop a controversial plan to sell a stake in the World Cup.
Soccer confederations and national associations rejected the proposal after the Swiss official set a firm September 19 deadline.
FIFA had claimed that selling a minority stake in its commercial arm would bring in billions of dollars to support football development around the world.
FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom and Arsene Wenger were among senior officials who distanced themselves from Infantino, with Bin Hussein saying there was “a problem with the leadership.”
The Jordan FA chief listed several issues affecting his association as a small nation operating on a “minimal budget.”
Other issues included supporters having to pay “exorbitant prices for tickets” while still being denied visas for the World Cup in the United States, plus unpaid prize money for the players’ participation in the 2025 Arab Cup, a FIFA-run tournament.
On top of that, Bin Hussein said Jordan was being taxed by the U.S. government through FIFA for taking part in the World Cup - costs that teams based in Canada and Mexico do not have to pay.
There is no shortage of issues regarding FIFA. Let me start by clarifying what some of these are from an FA perspective, in particular that of Jordan going into a World Cup for the first time.
— Ali Al Hussein (@AliBinAlHussein) August 4, 2026
We are a small country with a minimal budget for our FA and had to deal with enormous…
“We are being taxed by the U.S. government through FIFA for our participation. Money that should go to players and staff,” he added.
“This was not the case for those who played and set up camp in Canada and Mexico. But we happened to be in the USA so now we face these huge costs in taxes for having participated.”
Jordan made history by qualifying for the World Cup for the first time, but were knocked out in the group stage.
The association is also still waiting on prize money from December for reaching the Arab Cup final in Qatar.
“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,” Bin Hussein added.
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