Mwachiro laud Fifa’s financial support to federations
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) presidential aspirant Herbert Mwachiro yesterday lauded efforts by world football governing body FIFA for being steadfast in assisting her affiliates financially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mwachiro said the approval by Fifa for the disbursement of funds to the federations around the world including Kenya’s was in itself a milestone that should be embraced by all football stakeholders globally.
He said the move was not only timely but a shot in the arm for many federations whose footballers, match officials, coaches and other technical officials have been adversely affected by the pandemic.
“Most federations have lost their revenue streams and sponsors have pulled out or temporarily halted their sponsorship and the latest move by Fifa could not have come at an opportune time to federations all over the world,” said Mwachiro.
He added: “Covid-19 has put the above vulnerable sportsmen and women in a very difficult position as they are among the hardest hit by the pandemic.
Problems in relation to hunger, health and housing are affecting this class of sportspersons.
They are already in debt over the past three months and the need to be alleviated is even more urgent.”
Mwachiro also opined that access to the internet was also paramount during this trying time.
“The opportunity to access the interest free loan should also be looked into to help ease the burden on the hard-hit football community,” Mwachiro remarked.
In the meantime, Fifa has issued a breakdown of the funds that will start trickling into federations this month.
Each of the federations will get a total of $500,000 in July 2020 and $500,000 in January 2021 while the $500,000 support to Women’s Football will be released in July 2020.
To ensure effective oversight, FIFA has devised strict controls for the use of the funds and they shall undergo the same FIFA stringent audit process.
In addition to the above, Member Associations can access an interest free loan facility up to 35% of the audited books of Accounts of their annual revenues.
