The Bureau of the FIFA Council has approved the FIFA Covid-19 Relief Fund regulations. It was originally approved on Saturday, July 25. The plan was made by the FIFA administration in collaboration with the federation to help its member associations to aid them financially and reduce the impact the coronavirus has had on them. In a statement released by FIFA, it said ‘USD 1.5 billion is available to the football community, including men’s and women’s professional, youth and grassroots football, through a system of combined grants and loans under strict compliance requirements’. Also, a USD 1 million grant will be at the disposal of all member associations and in addition, women’s football, will receive USD 500,000. Another USD 2 million grant will be given to each confederation. FIFA affirmed that the monies will be accessible by January 2021. Relating to application of loans, “all FIFA member associations will be able to apply for interest-free loans amounting to up to 35 per cent of their audited annual revenues. “ In the interest of solidarity, a minimum loan entitlement of USD 500,000 and a maximum loan entitlement of USD 5 million will be available. In addition, each confederation will have access to a loan of up to USD 4 million.” FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, acknowledged the Bureau for approving the Covid-19 fund. “I would like to thank my colleagues of the Bureau of the Council for approving the decision to move forward with such an important initiative for the benefit of all member associations and confederations.” The monies may be used for the restart of competitions, hire and re-hire staff, the participation of national teams in competitions, amongst others. However, FIFA has made it clear that the member associations must comply by the regulations strictly and everything will be monitored by a steering committee. Source: 3news.com|Ghana]]>