10 months ago
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WHILE THE Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) is now free from nearly five years of strict financial governance by FIFA, the former’s new target is maintaining standards, while the latter has laid out protocols for the reception of increased funding.
In an online press conference to announce the lifting of the restrictions from FIFA yesterday, JFF president Michael Ricketts said, that while the organisation was happy with the development, it was focused on improving its processes to ensure that there would be no relapse.
“We will not go back there as long as I am president. We would have been sure that once we have satisfied our parent organisation then the onus would be on us to ensure that we stay on that path,” said Ricketts.
Ricketts thanked JFF general secretary Dennis Chung for helping the organisation through the process.
“It is welcomed news, and we are absolutely delighted. It was certainly a job well done, and I must use this opportunity and this forum to express my absolute regard to our accounting department, led by Mrs [Grace] Lewis and other staff members, and our general secretary [Dennis Chung], who has masterminded and supervised the whole process,” he said.
According to Christoph Suppiger, FIFA’s head of Member Association (MA) finance services, the lifting of the restrictions now means that the JFF will receive portions of previously withheld funding, more future funding, as well as funding for projects not accessed before.
FULL ACCESS FOR FUNDING
“It means that now the member association have full access again for funding. We can provide bigger amounts for instalments. It doesn’t mean we will release any backlog in any one go,” said Suppiger.
Suppiger went into specifics, pointing to the FIFA Forward programme, which could see the JFF accessing US$3 million per approved project and US$1.25 per year for operational costs. Like projects that need to be approved, the yearly grant for operational costs also has criteria that need to be met.
“For each financial year, in order to get the full amount of [US]$1.25 million, member associations have to fulfil certain criteria football related.
“Also, they need to fulfil the criteria of having competitions for women, girls, and boys to access the full funding,” said Suppiger.
According to Suppiger, the JFF has shown improvement in a number of areas.
“The member association can successfully access online banking system. They have upgraded the accounting of their system and have, additionally, made other efforts around procurement procedures,” he said.
“Also the level of supporting document have massively been improved, and the FIFA-funded activities were fully supported with supporting documentation.”
Suppiger explained that FIFA-appointed auditors would be conducting audits on the way FIFA funds are being spent.
Chung said the federation is now fully committed to proper financial governance.
“We need to continue this journey. We need to make sure that we stick to and continue to improve the processes that are in place because we cannot disappoint everyone who has ensured that we are here.
“We will ensure that we continue to comply. It is just a matter of governance, and I am sure the president is fully committed to that.”
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