FIFA to donate $500,000 COVID-19 relief fund to NFF

World football governing body, FIFA, is set to donate the sum of $500,000 to the Nigeria Football Federation - NFF to aid the economic effect of the coronavirus pandemic.

FIFA announced on its website on Friday that it would release operational funding due to member associations for the years 2019 and 2020.

Each national governing body, including the NFF, will receive $500,000, which FIFA says will be delivered to member FAs upon fulfillment of specific criteria.

FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, said the funds were the first step of a far-reaching financial relief plan in response to the emergency across the football community.

“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,” Infantino 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.”

Under normal circumstances, FIFA’s member associations would have received the full amount of the contribution upon fulfillment of specific criteria. Instead, FIFA is now transferring this amount as active support to help safeguard football across all member associations.

This means FIFA will release $500,000 to each member association in the coming days as well as any remaining entitlement for 2019 and 2020.

Punch