Ali was a squad member of the Brunei team playing in the Malaysian leagues from 1996 to 1999.[4][5] On his final season with the Wasps, Brunei won the Malaysian Cup.[6]
Afterwards, Ali played for DPMM FC, a team founded by Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah where he is one of its founding members.[7][8] Serving as captain, DPMM FC became one of the strongest teams in the country, winning the B-League championship in 2002 and 2004.[1] After retirement, he stayed on with DPMM as backroom staff and eventually became the team manager from 2012.[9]