It was after the recently concluded congress in Tokyo - where the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) surprisingly chose to support Gianni Infantino’s re-election bid for the presidency of FIFA - that Prince Ali bin al-Hussein launched a scathing criticism.
"The first two days were about football - the sport we all serve. The last day was exclusively about politics, at the initiative of Gianni Infantino," he wrote on X, adding:
"There have been reports that Asia is united in the election of the next FIFA president. The truth is that no one was allowed to speak, ask questions, take part in the debate or talk to the media."
The post on X was later deleted and replaced with another.
The AFC hit back at the prince’s comments on Tuesday, rejecting the claim that the congress was conducted inappropriately. The AFC also announced that an investigation had been launched into the prince and that he faces disciplinary action.
The president of the Jordanian Football Association has previously been highly critical of both FIFA and Infantino. In August, he claimed that Jordan was subjected to blackmail during the World Cup and that the country had not received the promised prize money for its participation in the Arab Championship at the time.
