By Fredrick Nadulli,

World football governing body FIFA, in the spirit of developing the game and laying bare its blue print for the African continent, conducted a conference for Journalists from English-speaking nations in Johannesburg in a bid to spell out it’s agenda for the sport going forward. Attended by invited members of the fourth estate and presided over by it’s top leadership based in Switzerland and South Africa, the forum seeked  to spell out clear guidelines for member associations looking to develop the game in their respective countries.

Fifa Forward is a comprehensive football development program that was launched in May 2016. It combines and replaces ten different development programs replacing six different sets of regulations that existed before.

A flagship of president Gianni Ingantino, the program provides tailor made support for football development in each of Fifa’s 211 member associations and the 6 confederations.It was built on three key pillars; more investment for members, more impact via tailor made plans to meet specific needs and most crucial, more oversight to ensure all funds are used responsibly.

In funding and investment, the organisation set aside a paltry USD 250,000 for projects in 2015. This has since gone a notch higher in subsequent years – between 2016 – 2018 – USD 500,000 being set aside for operational costs plus an additional USD 750,000 for tailored projects, to make it an annual expenditure of USD 1,250,000.

A total of 171 projects cumulatively gobbled up a combined total of USD 121,500,000 to fund competitions, build infrastructure, help in building capacity and improve other key areas of the sport.

In Africa, resource distribution was highest in the Cosafa region, followed by Cecafa, Unifac, Wafu zone A, Unaf and Wafu zone B in that order. Interestingly for all the funds available at Fifa, records indicate almost half the member associations for some reason shied away from making formal applications.

A more telling statistic explains that Fifa’s tough documentation strategy and thorough scrutiny may have thrown a spanner into the works of these member associations. In placing these rather stringent conditionalities the association is keen to ensure funds are properly utilised for their intended purposes.

In the new order, member associations are expected to submit proper and eligible supporting documents to back up their budget proposals. Part of the documentation includes and not limited to Land certificates, proof of invitation to tender and proper budgets depending on the type of project.

Interestingly minnows Djibouti head the list of countries whose project funding was approved and paid, followed by Egypt, Rwanda and Kenya respectively. Football powerhouses like Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco and Nigeria make no blip in the graph of nations hungry for Fifa funding.

With journalists fielding questions and concerns and the Fifa Development team  led by Joyce Cook and Veron Mosengo-Omba assisted by Solomon Mudege  responding, a newly proposed Fifa Forward 2.0 commitment was mooted. This is a 4 year cycle of upto USD 6 million projected to run between the period of 2019 – 2022, with tailored projects allocated a further USD 2,000,000; an upward trajectory of plus 20%.

To achieve these objectives a timeline was set between June 2018 and January 2019 that involves decision by Congress, acceptance by Development committee that is responsible for the implementation of the Fifa Forward program, approval by Fifa Council, communication to member associations and full implementation. From the structured system it appears the Gianni Infantino administration is keen to lay bare it’s operations and ensure transparency & accountability.

The Fifa Forward 2.0 further seeks to focus on key financial aspects that include funds disbursement of upto USD 100,000 per year for each member association, non applied, with the second payment pegged on ten clearly defined activities, project funding for infrastructure at USD 2,000,000 and at least USD 1,000,000 per year for organising competitions for women teams, boys and girl’s sides, national teams and clubs.

For member associations that fail for whatever reason to apply/access the funds, the money will not be accrued for the next year or cycle.

With Fifa keen to stamp it’s oversight role and ensure MAs keep their part of the bargain, certain conditions must be fulfilled including having  suitable headquarters, have at least one functioning Technical Centre and have at least one pitch which fulfills Fifa standards for playing international matches.