FIFA elections start today, and Jordan's Prince Ali bin al Hussein is the only one standing in the way of Sepp Blatter’s fifth term.
The son of Jordan's late king Hussein and the brother of the country's current King Abdullah, few thought of the Hashemite prince as a serious contender. But then the organization's top executives came tumbling down in one of the largest corruption scandals in modern sports history, and things changed for Hussein.
Don't get it wrong though, he’s not exactly new to FIFA, either — the 39-year-old is already part of the organization's 7-person vice presidency, representing Asia since 2011.
Here's a crash course of things you need to know about the Jordanian contender. And some other things.
1. He was head of the Jordanian Football Association and founded the Western Asian Football Association.
2. In his FIFA role, he successfully campaigned for the removal of the ban of hijabs on the football pitch.
3. He’s has prominently criticized corruption in the footballing world and FIFA, calling for the Garcia Report on corruption in the Russia and Qatar bids, to be published publically.
4. He’s campaigned to raise awareness about the Circassian diaspora, mostly by riding on horseback from Jordan, through Syria and Turkey, to Caucasus, in 1988.
5. He served as a pathfinder for the Jordanian Special Forces.
