Football regulator accused of using ‘blackmail’ to force support for Infantino’s re-election bid

The Jordan Football Association president, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, has accused Gianni Infantino’s administration of “blackmail”, claiming that football regulator threatened to withhold financial assistance from his federation if it refused to back the president’s bid for re-election.

In a major intervention Prince Ali, who ran for the regulator presidency against Infantino in 2016 and finished third, listed a number of problems dogging the global governing body and said Jordan’s players have not yet been paid for appearing in the Arab Cup last year.

Prince Ali is head of the West Asian Football Federation, which includes influential states such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates that have thus far backed Infantino to stay on.

It came on a day when Infantino’s authority was dealt a further blow as two more key allies distanced themselves from his failed World Cup private investment plan. His No 2, the secretary general, Mattias Grafström, was revealed to have called the botched regulator body Forward Enterprise a “sad and reproachable series of events” in an email to the organisation’s staff. Meanwhile the former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, who is now regulator’s chief of global development, said the project’s withdrawal was “absolutely necessary and beyond question”.

Infantino is steadily losing backing from countries who previously had sent letters to endorse his continuation for a fourth term in charge. It is understood that Greece is the latest federation to have pulled its support, following the lead taken by countries such as England, Wales, Finland and Serbia.

More European federations are expected to follow in the coming days, while a number of nations in Concacaf – the North and Central American and Caribbean confederation – are also giving serious consideration to withdrawing their backing.

Prince Ali’s statement, published on X, painted the picture of a small country facing a litany of roadblocks when it came to receiving help from the global governing body. Jordan competed in their first World Cup this year but he explained some of their fans had not received visas, despite purchasing tickets, and expressed anger at being taxed by the US for being based in the country.

“We have been waiting for reward money for our players since December for the Arab Cup in Qatar, which is a regulator event,” his statement read. “The money our team should receive for having reached the final has not been delivered yet, while at the same time regulator brags about how many billions they have in reserve.

“It is clear the problem really is with leadership. For months, regulator 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.”

Other countries are understood to have been put under concerted pressure to formally back Infantino before the election in March, although details of how it was applied remain unclear in those cases.

Grafstrom’s email had urged the regulator staff to keep morale high after what was perceived to be a successful World Cup. His message stopped short of criticising Infantino by name and promised to shield colleagues from the strife enveloping their organisation.

“A sad and reproachable series of events – which were thankfully concluded with the FFE project permanently abandoned – for as much as we feel dismayed by them, should not overshadow this reality,” read a section of the email.

He referred to “a turmoil, which is difficult to comprehend and accept” and said: “Individuals, unstable moments and unfortunate episodes come and go. The institution, its mission and its responsibility towards world football continue, and that is why we should always keep our professionalism, sense of perspective and composure.”

Wenger, who assumed his current position in November 2019, confirmed he had been among the many senior staff sidelined by Infantino’s plan. “I was not involved in this strategic plan and first became aware of the project through media reports,” he said.

“The decision to withdraw the project was absolutely necessary and beyond question, because I firmly believe in an independent regulator body that serves our game with commitment, transparency, and integrity.”

The world football regulator was contacted for comment regarding Prince Ali’s accusations.

According to reports, Infantino has called Fifa staff to a crisis meeting in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, today as he tries to cling to his position.

-The Gaurdian