Football Kenya Federation Presidential (FKF) aspirant Herbert Mwachiro has lauded the efforts by the football world governing body FIFA for approving Covid-19 funds that will be disbursed to federations around the world.
He said that the move is very timely and it’s a shot in the arm for many federations whose footballers, match officials, coaches and other technical officials have been adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic with most losing their revenue streams and sponsors pulling out or temporarily halting their sponsorship.
“This 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. The opportunity to access the interest free loan could also be looked into to help ease the burden on the hard-hit football community”, said Mwachiro.
The FIFA Council have approved funds as Covid-19 Relief Funds for all Member Associations and the FKF will be entitled to USD1,000,000 (Universal Solidarity Grant), USD500,000 (Women Football Support) and Total FKF Entitlement – USD1,500,000.
These funds are expected to be disbursed to member Associations in this manner of $500,000 in July 2020 and $500,000 in January 2021. 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. The Government through the Ministry of Sports earlier on set up Covid-19 Relief Fund Support players from different sports disciplines who are adversely affected by the pandemic.