Prince Ali bin Hussein ( ar, الأمير علي بن الحسين; born 23 December 1975) is the third son of

King Hussein Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

, and the second child of the king by his third wife,

Queen Alia Alia Al-Hussein ( ar, علياء الحسين, born Alia Bahauddin Toukan (); 25 December 1948 – 9 February 1977) was the Queen of Jordan and the third wife of King Hussein from their marriage in 1972 until her death in a helicopter crash in so ...

. He is also the half brother of

King Abdullah II Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein ( ar, عبدالله الثاني بن الحسين , translit=ʿAbd Allāh aṯ-ṯānī ibn al-Ḥusayn; born 30 January 1962) is King of Jordan, having ascended the throne on 7 February 1999. He is a member of t ...

. He is a member of the

Hashemite The Hashemites ( ar, الهاشميون, al-Hāshimīyūn), also House of Hashim, are the royal family of Jordan, which they have ruled since 1921, and were the royal family of the kingdoms of Hejaz (1916–1925), Syria (1920), and Iraq (1921� ...

family, which has ruled Jordan since 1921 and claims to be a descendant of the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

. In September 2015, Prince Ali announced his candidacy in the FIFA presidential election following

Sepp Blatter Joseph "Sepp" Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former football administrator who served as the eighth President of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participating in FIFA activities since 2015 as a result of ...

's resignation.

Early life and education

King Hussein and Queen Alia with children, 1974

Prince Ali began his primary education at the Islamic Educational College in Amman. He continued his studies in the United Kingdom, the United States and graduated from

Salisbury School Salisbury School is an all-boys, private college-preparatory boarding school founded in 1901 and located in Salisbury, Connecticut. Its school newspaper is ''The Cupola''. Its mascot is the Crimson Knight. The school's motto is ''Esse quam vider ...

in Connecticut in 1993, where he excelled in wrestling. Prince Ali is fluent in Arabic, English, and Circassian. In 1998 Prince Ali went on a publicized horseback journey to the Caucasus (

Circassia Circassia (; also known as Cherkessia in some sources; ady, Адыгэ Хэку, Адыгей, lit=, translit=Adıgə Xəku, Adıgey; ; ota, چرکسستان, Çerkezistan; ) was a country and a historical region in the along the northeast ...

), from Jordan through Syria and Turkey, to raise awareness of the Circassian diaspora worldwide. The trip traced (in reverse) the path of the

exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

that brought the Circassians to Jordan.

Personal life

He is married to Rym Brahimi, they married on September 7, 2004. She is the daughter of

Lakhdar Brahimi Lakhdar Brahimi (Algerian pronunciation: ; ar, الأخضر الإبراهيمي; '; born 1 January 1934) is an Algerian United Nations diplomat who served as the United Nations and Arab League Special Envoy to Syria until 14 May 2014. He was Mi ...

, former Algerian Minister for Foreign Affairs and senior UN official. She was raised in Great Britain and Algeria, and was educated in France and the United States. They live in Amman with their two children Princess Jalila bint Ali and Prince Abdullah bin Ali.

Career

In 1999, Prince Ali was asked to serve as commander of

′s Special Security in the Royal Guards. He served in that capacity until 28 January 2008, when the king entrusted Prince Ali with establishing and directing the

National Centre for Security and Crisis Management National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

. He is also the chairman of Jordan's

Royal Film Commission - Jordan Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

Football

Prince Ali is president of the

Jordan Football Association The Jordan Football Association ( ar, الاتحاد الأردني لكرة القدم) is the governing body for association football, football in Jordan. The JFA was awarded best association of the AFC in 2013. History Tournaments Jordan is ...

. He is also the founder and president of the

West Asian Football Federation The West Asian Football Federation (WAFF; ar, اتحاد غرب آسيا لكرة القدم, Ittiḥād Gharb Āsiyā li-Kurat al-Qadam), founded in 2001, is an association of the football playing nations in Western Asia. Its founding members a ...

, and under his presidency the membership has increased to 13 countries. Prince Ali announced his candidacy for

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

President, representing Asia, on 7 October 2010. Ali's campaign focused on change, football ideals, and uniting and raising the profile of Asian countries, within FIFA and generally. Prince Ali won the election for the position of FIFA vice president, representing Asia (25 votes to 20 for his opponent Dr

Chung Mong-joon Chung Mong-joon or Chung Mong Joon ( ko, 정몽준, born October 17, 1951) is a South Korean businessman and politician. He is the sixth son of Chung Ju-yung, founder of Hyundai, the second-largest South Korean '' chaebol'' before its breakup in ...

) at the AFC Congress in Doha, Qatar, on 6 January 2011. As FIFA vice president, Prince Ali served as a member of both the FIFA Executive Committee and the AFC Executive Committee. Prince Ali successfully championed the lifting of FIFA's ban on the

hijab In modern usage, hijab ( ar, حجاب, translit=ḥijāb, ) generally refers to headcoverings worn by Muslim women. Many Muslims believe it is obligatory for every female Muslim who has reached the age of puberty to wear a head covering. While ...

in women's football. Ali was one of a number of FIFA officials to call for the publication of the

Garcia Report The Garcia Report was an investigation produced by Michael J. Garcia into allegations of corruption in world football. Garcia was appointed in July 2012 to investigate ethical breaches at the FIFA, football's world governing body. A month lat ...

into allegations of corruption surrounding Russia and Qatar's bids for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups. in 2012, Prince Ali set up the Asian Football Development Programme (AFDP), a social enterprise focused on Asia and the Middle East which aimed to unite and transform communities through football, promoting respect and tolerance for others, fostering team spirit and developing talent. Its achievements include reaching over 80,000 young people directly through its projects, training over 500 coaches, administrators and referees in refugee camps, schools and clubs; distributing 100,000 footballs to young people's programmes and organizations and completing 30 projects across 25 countries. In October 2018,

AFDP Global AFDP Global (Association Football Development Programme) is an international football social enterprise and was launched in October 2018 at the Emirates Stadium in London. AFDP Global is the successor organisation to the Asian Football Development ...

was launched at the

Emirates Stadium The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. It has a current seated capacity ...

in London. AFDP Global's mission is to extend this work to all regions of the world.

FIFA presidential campaigns

Ali lost the 2015 FIFA Presidency election to

after resigning before second round voting took place. Blatter secured 60 more votes than Ali in the first round of voting, shy of the two thirds majority required to win in the first round, though with only a simple majority required in subsequent rounds Ali's defeat appeared to be inevitable. However, following Blatter's announcement in June 2015 that he would resign from the post of FIFA president amid the ongoing corruption scandal, Ali announced in September 2015 that he would run for FIFA president again in the 2016 special election. Ali finished third in the first round behind

Gianni Infantino Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino (; born 23 March 1970) is a Swiss football administrator with Italian citizenship and the current president of FIFA. He was elected President of FIFA during the 2016 FIFA Extraordinary Congress in February 2016. He ...

and

Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa ( ar, سلمان بن ابراهيم آل خليفة; born 2 November 1965) is a member of the House of Khalifa, the royal family of Bahrain. He has been president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) sin ...

, polling 27 votes. In the second round, Ali again finished third behind the aforementioned duo, garnering a greatly reduced total of 4 votes.

Honours

National

* **Knight Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Renaissance, Special Class **Knight Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Star of Jordan The Order of the Star of Jordan (Wisam al-Kawkab al-Urduni) or The Order of Hussein ibn Ali (Wisam al-Hussein ibn Ali) is an award and military decoration of the sovereign state of Jordan and is awarded for military or civil merit. It was founde ...

**Knight Grand Cordon of the

Order of Independence Order of Independence or Independence Order ( vi, Huân chương Độc lập) is a Vietnamese decoration. Criteria The Vietnamese government states that the decoration "shall be conferred or posthumously conferred on individuals who have re ...

**Knight Officer of the Order of Military Merit **Knight of the Decoration of the Hashemite Star **Recipient of the Al-Hussein Medal of Excellence, 2nd Class **Recipient of the Administrative & Leadership Competence Medal **Recipient of the Administrative & Technical Competence Medal **Recipient of the Administrative & Training Competence Medal

Foreign

* : Grand Cross of the Order of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria, 1st Class * : Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known a ...

* : Member of the

Order of the Legion of Honour Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

* : Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, 1st Class * : Knight Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...

* : Knight Grand Cross of the

Royal Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of the ...

* : Recipient of the 50th Birthday Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf

Military grades

Prince Ali holds the rank of

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

in the

Jordanian Armed Forces The Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) ( ar, الْقُوَّاتُ الْمُسَلَّحَةُ الأرْدُنِية, romanized: ''Al-Quwwat Al-Musallaha Al-Urduniyya''), also referred to as the Arab Army ( ar, الْجَيْشُ الْعَرَبي ...

References

External links

*
Official BiographyWe Are Asia: Taking Our PlaceThe West Asian Football FederationThe Jordan Football AssociationFédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)The Asian Football Confederation (AFC)The Royal Film CommissionHis Majesty King Abdullah II – Official Website
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ali bin Al Hussein 1975 births Living people

Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...

House of Hashim Jordanian princes Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Princeton University alumni Jordanian generals Jordanian people of Palestinian descent FIFA officials Sons of kings Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic