Prince Ali bin Hussein

Early life and education

Ali spent his summers in 1984 and 1986 at Camp Agawam in Raymond, Maine.

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 in Connecticut in 1993, where he excelled in wrestling.

He entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom. Ali was commissioned as an officer in December 1994 and was awarded the Brunei Medal for serving in Brunei. Before continuing his studies in the United States, he served in the Jordanian Special Forces as a pathfinder, earning his military freefall parachute wings. He completed his undergraduate education at Princeton University in 1999.

Prince Ali is fluent in Arabic, English, and Circassian.

In 1998 Prince Ali went on a publicized horseback journey to the Caucasus (Circassia), from Jordan through Syria and Turkey, to raise awareness of the Circassian diaspora worldwide. The trip traced (in reverse) the path of the exodus that brought the Circassians to Jordan.

Career

In 1999, Prince Ali was asked to serve as commander of King Abdullah II′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. He is also the chairman of Jordan's Royal Film Commission.

Football

Prince Ali is president of the Jordan Football Association. He is also the founder and president of the West Asian Football Federation, and under his presidency the membership has increased to 13 countries.

Prince Ali announced his candidacy for FIFA 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) 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 women's football.

Ali was one of a number of FIFA officials to call for the publication of the Garcia Report into allegations of corruption surrounding Russia and Qatar's bids for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups.

FIFA presidential campaigns

Ali lost the 2015 FIFA Presidency election to Sepp Blatter 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 and Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, polling 27 votes. In the second round, Ali again finished third behind the aforementioned duo, garnering a greatly reduced total of 4 votes.

Marriage and children

On 23 April 2004 Prince Ali married Algerian-born Rym Brahimi, a former CNN journalist and daughter of the Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi, a former United Nations Special Representative for Afghanistan. The marriage was publicly celebrated on 7 September 2004.

They have two children:

National honours

Foreign honours

Military grades

Prince Ali holds the rank of brigadier in the Jordanian Armed Forces.