By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
The Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) has hinted at the possibility of diverting the latest tranche of the FIFA Forward 2.0 fund to the fight against COVID-19 in the country.
The suggestion comes after FIFA announced on the 24th of April the disbursement of up to US$150 million to all 211 members to cushion the effects of COVID-19 on running football in the respective countries.
Head of Media at the SLFA, Ibrahim Kamara, told Politico on Tuesday that the Executive Committee would reach a final decision once the FA receives the fund.
“We just have to send to them and ask that since football is not playing can we do A, B and C to help in the fight against COVID-19? Then we will wait for their response,” he said.
It approved, the SLFA will have to adjust its annual program for which it had already budgeted.
A bitterly contested budget for the FA was controversially passed during its last congress on February 1st this year.
Kamara said they would inform members of the association on any program adjustments that they would invest the fund in.
“We will definitely inform our membership. They are all already represented in the form of regional heads in the executive committee,” he said.
In a press statement by FIFA last week, the world football governing body quoted President Gianni Infantino saying:
“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 added: “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.”
Kamara said they are not sure yet of how much Sierra Leone will receive.
Under the FIFA Forward 2.0 program, member associations receive up to $1 million per year, with $500,000 disbursed in January of each year and the remaining sum sent in July after a number of criteria will have been fulfilled.
FIFA said they wouldn’t be considering those criteria anymore for the disbursement of this tranche of money.
In Sierra Leone, football and all sporting activities have been grinded to a halt. This has come with severe financial problems for clubs in the country.
Last month the FA donated more than Le400 million to clubs, to cushion the effect of the financial crisis they are already facing as a result of the viral pandemic.
Last week, the SLFA also loaned its Kingtom headquarters to the country’s national COVID-19 response efforts for coordination of the fight.
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