Prince Ali celebrates 44th birthday

AMMAN — Monday marks the 44th birthday of HRH Prince Ali, who was born on December 23, 1975, to Their Majesties the late King Hussein and the late Queen Alia.

Prince Ali began his primary education at the Islamic Educational College in Amman, and continued his studies in the UK and the US, before graduating from Salisbury School in Connecticut in 1993, where he excelled in sports, particularly wrestling.

He then joined the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, where he was awarded the Brunei Medal for Excellence and was commissioned as an officer in 1994.

Before continuing his studies in the US, Prince Ali served in the Special Forces as a pathfinder, earning his military freefall parachute wings.

In 1999, Prince Ali was asked to serve as commander of His Majesty King Abdullah’s Special Security in the Royal Guards, serving in that capacity until January 28, 2008, when the King entrusted him with establishing and directing the National Centre for Security and Crisis Management.

Prince Ali, who currently serves in the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army as a major general, is president of the Jordan Football Association and the West Asian Football Federation, as well as chairman of the Royal Film Commission (RFC).

On January 6, 2011, the prince was elected FIFA vice president for Asia.

He also chaired the social responsibility committees at FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation.

In 2012, Prince Ali founded the Asian Football Development Project, a non-profit youth commission based in Amman, whose objective is to provide effective, need-based assistance to all Asian, national and regional football associations and affiliates.

The prince has also chaired the RFC since its establishment in 2003. The commission works to support the local film industry to enable Jordanian filmmakers to compete internationally.

In 2018, HRH Prince Ali inaugurated the Association Football Development Programme (AFDP) Global, an international social enterprise aimed at uniting and developing communities around the world through football. This new initiative builds on the successful model that Prince Ali started in Asia, and continues to expand to achieve sustainable results globally.

On September 7, 2004, Prince Ali married HRH Princess Rym, daughter of veteran UN and Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi. They have a daughter, Princess Jalila, born on September 16, 2005 and a son, Prince Abdullah, born on March 19, 2007.