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Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor

ZIFA will get US$500 000 from FIFA, within the next few days, as part of the world football governing body’s programme, to provide a relief plan to help the global football community paralysed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The funds are being channelled to all the member associations of the world football governing body, which has already shown its commitment to tackle the pandemic by donating US$10 million to the World Health Organisation.

The money, coming into the coffers of the member associations, are part of the operational funds, for the years 2019 and 2020, which they were scheduled to receive from FIFA.

However, the funds were not meant to be released now but FIFA have decided to disburse the money to help the associations deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Around US$150 million will be distributed among the 211 national associations.

“FIFA will release all operational funding due to member associations for the years 2019 and 2020 in the coming days as the first step of a relief plan to assist the football community impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,’’ the world football governing body said in a statement yesterday.

‘’This measure will mean that a total of around US$150 million will be distributed among the 211 national football governing bodies around the world.

‘’As part of the measure, all remaining entitlements of member associations to operational costs under the Forward 2.0 Programme will be released in full for the years 2019 and 2020.

“In particular, the release of the second instalment of operational costs for 2020, which was originally due in July, will be paid immediately.

“Under normal circumstances, FIFA’s member associations would have only received the full amount of the contribution upon fulfilment of specific criteria.

“Instead, FIFA is now transferring this amount as an active support to help safeguard football across all member associations.

“Concretely, this means that FIFA will release USD 500,000 to each member association in the coming days as well as any remaining entitlement for 2019 and 2020.

“This immediate financial assistance should be used to mitigate the financial impact of COVID-19 on football in member associations, namely to meet financial or operational obligations that they may have towards staff and other third parties.

“The standard obligations and responsibilities in relation to the use of these funds as outlined in the Forward 2.0 Regulations remain fully applicable and will be subject to the standard audit and reporting process.

“This financial relief plan is possible thanks to the strong financial position that FIFA has been able to consolidate over the past four years. The next stages of the plan are currently being finalised and will be communicated in due course.’’

FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, backed his organisation’s decision by saying the pandemic continues to cause havoc across the world.

“The pandemic has caused unprecedented challenges for the entire football community and, as the world governing body, it is FIFA’s duty to be there and support the ones that are facing acute needs,” he said.

“This starts by providing immediate financial assistance to our member associations, many of which are experiencing severe financial distress.

“This is the first step of a far-reaching financial relief plan we are developing to respond to the emergency across the whole football community.

“Together with our stakeholders, we are we assessing the losses and we are working on the most appropriate and effective tools to implement the other stages of this relief plan.

“I would like to thank the chairpersons of the FIFA Development Committee, Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, and the FIFA Finance Committee, Alejandro Domínguez, for their commitment and urgent approval of these measures by their committees.”

At national level, some football associations have also taken the initiative to pump funds into the coffers of their clubs to stabilise the teams during these challenging times.

The Sierra Leone Football Association, for instance, distributed US$70 000 to their Premier league, Division One and Two clubs are part of a solidarity funding.

“The president of the Sierra Leone Football Association, Madam Isha Johansen, has confirmed that Six Hundred and Fifty Six Million Leones has been donated to Premier, First and Second Division Clubs in the country as a solidarity contribution by SLFA,’’ the association said in a statement.

“Four Hundred and Six Million Leones will go to the 14 Premier Clubs and Two Hundred and Fifty Million Leones contribution goes to the 5 Regional Football Associations to be spread out and allocated to the respective lower divisional clubs (Division One and Two),

“In addition to the financial boost, several hundreds of face masks will be distributed to SLFA staff and clubs.’’

Johansen is one of the few women who lead national football associations in the world.

“These are abnormal and truly worrying times and the only instinctive reaction these days is how to protect and be protected. As a parent football body in Sierra Leone, we have a duty to support and protect each other,” she said in the same statement.