Times Of Swaziland: COVID-19 TO COST FOOTBALL E228 BILLION - FIFA

COVID-19 TO COST FOOTBALL E228 BILLION - FIFA
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BY SANELE JELE on 17/09/2020 01:42:00


MBABANE – FIFA yesterday put the cost of Covid-19 on football around the world
at E228 billion in lost revenue.
The pandemic has already led to over 150 football associations seeking financial
help from the E24 billion emergency relief fund set up by football’s governing
body. Noteworthy is that a majority of online publications had ran the story of
FIFA’s estimated loss yesterday.
Olli Rehn, Chairman of FIFA’s coronavirus steering committee, laid bare for
the first time the true financial impact the virus has had on the game through
fixture list chaos, empty stadiums and loss of TV rights revenue.
“It’s a huge number and it covers the football economy in its entirety,
including all youth academies,” Rehn, a Finnish politician and governor of the
Bank of Finland, told a press conference.
impact
“This will impact next year as well, there is a carry over. That is why this
Covid-19 relief fund is not time-bound – they may request loans later on if
they need to,” Rehn, who is also the independent deputy chairman of the FIFA
Governance Committee, said.
He said that while Europe was hit hardest in terms of absolute cost, it was the
associations outside Europe which ‘have suffered more’.
Rehn said that football in South America had been especially hard hit, while
Africa and Asia were also a concern.
ruined
“It is a real danger that the good work that has been done developing football
in Asia and Africa could be ruined, so we want to soften the blow and maintain
the development that has been done,” he said.
“In particular in South America, many on account of their relative means and
the spring to autumn season,” he said. Last month European Club Association
chairman Andrea Agnelli predicted lost revenue of E77 billion over two years for
its member clubs.”
“Each national association can request a FIFA grant of E16 million (E32
million for confederations) plus E8 million for women’s football. Loans are
available to national associations up to a maximum value of E81 million (E65
million for confederations). Rehn was at pains to stress that unlike in the past
it was imperative the money made available by FIFA is used for the right
purposes.
Corruption
“Corruption has no room in football,” he stated.
“Good governance is at the heart of this Covid-19 relief fund,” he said.
“We have made this clear to member associations.
‘‘I know some member associations have complained about heavy compliance
procedures – I’m quite used to that. We do require full compliance and we
have been working with globally-known auditing companies,” he said.
He said that, while football was slowly re-awakening, another downturn could not
be ruled out.
“The critical thing will be whether a vaccine will be developed and can be
used, and that we have medical and other means to fully contain and tame the
pandemic, and that is uncertain,” he said.
severe
“We cannot rule out worse developments and that would be another ball game if
the pandemic were to continue in a severe form next year. Now we are working on
the basis of the current scenario.”
Effort to get comments from Eswatini Football Association (EFA) were futile as
the Marketing and Communications Officer, Muzi Radebe, directed all questions to
the EFA CEO Frederick Mngomezulu.
When called, the CEO did not answer his mobile phone yesterday.
In a previous interview, the EFA CEO had indicated that they would make
applications to the relief funds offered by FIFA.