Football: Fifa grants SFF grateful for Fifa grants, says president Chetty |02 May 2020

SFF president Elvis Chetty and Fifa president Gianni Infantino

Seychelles Football Federation president Elvis Chetty has told Sports NATION his federation is very appreciative of the Fifa financial assistance which has been provided to help all local football federations.

“On behalf of the SFF, I would like to express our gratitude and thank Fifa (Fédération internationale de Football Association) for relaxing their regulation to help our federation to recoup the money we did not receive last year as well as the vast majority of its member associations for meeting Fifa regulations to receive the payment. This will assist us greatly in undertaking our football business,” revealed SFF president Chetty.

Mr Chetty went on to explain that generally Fifa provides some help under the ‘Forward 2.0’ programme where each association receives US $1 million per annum and get a further US $2 million for various projects over a four-year period.

“At the beginning of each year, we receive US $500,000 and then at the middle of the year, we receive another US $500,000 under the same ‘Forward 2.0’ programme provided the local federation has met a milestone set in the Fifa ‘Forward 2.0’ regulations,” explained Mr Chetty.

“So in essence, in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fifa has decided to relax the regulations vis-à-vis the requirement needed to receive the payment and furthermore Fifa has stated that the associations that did not meet the regulations last year will also receive the payment which is much needed for all its member associations to overcome the effect of the pandemic on football the world over,” stated SFF president Chetty.

Fifa has released an operational fund amounting to US $150 million for the 2019-2020 to all its 211 member associations to help them cope with the economic impact of the coronavirus which equates to US $500,000 for each of its members.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino has said that this assistance is much needed to cope with the current economic downturn.

“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,” the Fifa president told the media earlier this week.

Substitutions rule change

In another development that was put forward for discussion by Fifa yesterday is the rule change in the number of substitutions permitted in a match which is under review in this post coronavirus period.

Fifa is contemplating increasing the number of substitutions from three to five players for the remainder of the season to help teams cope with the fixture congestion they face and to avoid injury to players after a long layoff and high volume of matches.

The proposal gives competition organisers the option of letting teams use five substitutes instead of three in 90 minutes, and a sixth in knockout games that go to extra time.

SFF president Chetty has told Sports NATION that he is in favour of this rule change which was expected to be approved yesterday by the Fifa technical committee (IFAB).

“I think it’s a good idea especially in the current situation as it will help to guarantee the safety and health of the players and may make the matches more competitive,” Mr Chetty told Sports NATION.

This rule change if approved, will also apply to our remaining competitions locally, added Mr Chetty.

Re-opening of football office

Meanwhile, SFF employees are soon expected to return to their offices at the Maison Football at Roche Caïman which was generously put at the disposition of the department of health by SFF without any cost to help as a quarantine centre for affected patients at the start of measures to counter the coronavirus pandemic in mid-March in the country.

The offices will be much needed by the football officials as they begin to prepare for the restart of the football season and undertake their daily businesses of administering our national sport.

R. J-L.