Soccer-Jordan FA chief Prince Ali pledges cooperation with AFC judicial review


Soccer Football - AFC Asian Cup - Semi Final - Jordan v South Korea - Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar - February 6, 2024 Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, President of the Jordanian Football Federation is pictured in the stands before the match REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

Oct 29 (Reuters) - Jordan ⁠Football Association chief Prince Ali bin Hussein said he will cooperate with any ⁠Asian Football Confederation judicial review after he accused FIFA President Gianni Infantino of hijacking ‌last week's AFC Congress for political purposes.

AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa had endorsed Infantino for reelection at the continental body's extraordinary congress in Tokyo.

Following the meeting, Prince Ali alleged delegates had not been allowed to speak, ​question or debate matters and described the final day of ⁠the congress as "pure politics at the ⁠behest of Gianni Infantino".

FIFA did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on Prince Ali's ⁠remarks.

The ‌AFC said on Tuesday that neither Prince Ali nor any other member association's representatives had requested to speak and that allegations involving coercion, threats or bribery should be ⁠supported by credible evidence.

It added that it would refer Prince ​Ali's statements to its judicial ‌bodies.

"I respect the AFC and its judicial bodies and will cooperate fully with ⁠any process," Prince Ali ​said in a post on X late on Wednesday.

"As the FIFA Statutes provide, the Jordan Football Association will cast its vote in the FIFA presidential election independently."

He said his earlier post about the congress ⁠was intended to explain the FIFA presidential voting process ​and highlight the importance of transparency in football governance.

"Its final sentence states a principle the whole football family shares: no election should be open to coercion, threats or bribery. I stand by that ⁠principle. It was a statement of principle, not an allegation against any person," he said.

"Where concerns arise, the proper place for them is the competent bodies."

Prince Ali, who has been a vocal critic of FIFA's leadership, said he would make no further comment while the matter remained under ​consideration.

The AFC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request ⁠for comment on Prince Ali's latest post.

Infantino, who has led FIFA since 2016, is seeking reelection in ​March after apologising for his abandoned proposal to sell ‌a stake in FIFA competitions.

The AFC's endorsement marked ​a sharp shift from its position three months earlier, when it accused FIFA of a "fundamental breach of trust" over the abandoned proposal.

(Reporting Ashraf Hamed Atta;Editing by Peter Rutherford)

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