Jordan Football Association president Prince Ali bin Hussein has accused FIFA president Gianni Infantino of blackmail, as pressure continues to build on the embattled football chief.
Infantino has come under intense scrutiny since plans to sell £3.1billion in World Cup stakes leaked last week. The Swiss administrator has since scrapped the proposals after widespread opposition, including an internal rebellion at FIFA.
UEFA and Concacaf, the governing body for North and Central America and the Caribbean, are both calling for Infantino to step down, with European football leaders declaring a lack of confidence in him. Jordan has become the first Asian nation to rebel against Infantino, taking the total number of dissenting associations to 91, assuming all UEFA and Concacaf nations follow the stance set by their continental bodies. 106 nations are needed to depose Infantino as FIFA president.
Prize money delays and USA tax costs
In a statement, Prince Ali accused Infantino of delaying prize money payments to Jordan and of refusing to address the association's problems unless Jordan endorsed him for a fourth term as head of world football.
He said there was no shortage of issues regarding FIFA, and set out the difficulties Jordan's football association faced heading into its first World Cup, saying it was a small country with a minimal budget that had to deal with enormous hurdles.
Prince Ali said not all Jordanian fans were granted visas to enter the United States even though they held tickets, which he said had also been sold at exorbitant prices. He said Jordan was also being taxed by the US government through FIFA for its participation, money he said should go to players and staff, and that teams who played and based their camps in Canada or Mexico did not face the same costs.
Arab Cup prize money still unpaid
Prince Ali also said Jordan's team had been waiting since December for reward money from the Arab Cup in Qatar, a FIFA event, saying the payment for reaching the final had still not been delivered even as FIFA boasted of holding billions in reserve.
He said the real problem was leadership, and that for months FIFA had refused to help Jordan with these or other matters until it was verbally communicated to him during the World Cup that endorsing Infantino would go a long way to helping the Jordan Football Association.
Prince Ali said Jordan prided itself on upholding ethical values, and had not endorsed Infantino before and certainly would not now. He said the whole situation amounted to blackmail and that Jordan refused to give in to it.
Sportish has contacted FIFA for comment.
