Asian football governing body denies Prince Ali bin Hussein’s suggestion that proceedings at Congress in Tokyo were conducted improperly

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Tuesday said it ⁠would refer Jordan ⁠Football Association president Prince ⁠Ali bin Hussein to its judicial bodies, after he accused Fifa president Gianni Infantino of hijacking the AFC Congress for political purposes.

At the AFC’s extraordinary Congress in Tokyo on Friday, ‌its president, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, endorsed Infantino’s bid for re-election as head of football’s governing body.

Only three months after the confederation accused Infantino of a “fundamental breach of trust” over the abandoned Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal to sell a stake in Fifa tournaments, Sheikh Salman told the ⁠Congress that Asia was now united behind Infantino.

Following the Congress, Prince Ali, who has been a vocal critic of Fifa’s leadership, painted a starkly different picture of events in Tokyo.

“Having come back from Tokyo where the AFC Congress took place, the first ⁠two days were about football, which we all serve. The last day was pure politics at ‌the behest of Gianni Infantino,” Prince Ali wrote on X.

“There were reports that Asia has a united position when it comes to electing the ‌next Fifa President. In fact, nobody was allowed to speak, question, debate or talk ⁠with the media.