U.S. Soccer to cast their vote for Prince Ali of Jordan for FIFA presidency
The United States Soccer Federation will cast their lot with Prince Ali bin al-Hussein in Friday's FIFA presidential election. U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati announced the federation's choice on Twitter on Thursday.
.@ussoccer will vote for @AliForFIFA for President of #FIFA
— Sunil Gulati (@sunilgulati) February 25, 2016
For the uninitiated, Prince Ali is a member of the Jordanian royal family, and lost to soon-to-be-former FIFA overlord Sepp Blatter in the last FIFA presidential election. He called for literal transperency in Friday's election, and wanted the secret vote postponed if there couldn't be actual transparent voting booths. A request that was made late and, of course, denied. He also served four years as Vice President and is the most vocal of the five candidates about FIFA's tattered-to-shreds reputation as a governing body.
Following Gulati's vote of confidence, Prince Ali tweeted his thanks.
I am proud to receive the support of @ussoccer, joining my vision for a new, transparent, fair and honest #FIFA that puts football first.
— Ali Al Hussein (@AliBinAlHussein) February 25, 2016
A two-thirds majority is required to win the opening round, with each ensuing round requiring greater than 50 percent of the vote. While the U.S. has made their intentions somewhat known, it's unclear as to whether or not they'll stick with Prince Ali past the opening ballot.
