ZURICH — U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati said Friday that the federation would vote for Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan in Friday’s FIFA presidential election, turning away from the two front-runners to back the candidate U.S. Soccer supported in the previous election last year.
U.S. Soccer had declined to reveal its choice all week, but like several other federations went public with its support on the eve of the election. Most of FIFA’s member federations are believed to be supporting one of the favorites: Gianni Infantino of Switzerland, a top official in European soccer’s governing body, UEFA, or Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa of Bahrain, the president of the Asian Football Confederation.