Mbabane: The Eswatini Football Association (EFA) is swimming in the money.
At its meeting last Thursday (28 May 2020) via video-conference, the CAF Emergency Committee approved the immediate distribution of financial grants to Member Associations (MA) to support the management of football at the domestic levels hugely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A total of USD 10.8 Million (E183 924 000) will be transferred to the 54 MA’s on the continent as part of a relief plan to ease the financial burden on the African football community during these unprecedented times. This translates to just over E3.4 million (E3 406 000 million) to be exact for each member association.
The current United States Dollar to Lilangeni exchange rate is at E17.03 per dollar today.
“Due to the fast-spread of COVID-19, African MA’s have suspended all domestic competitions, which has brought about huge financial burdens on their shoulders. CAF has thus decided to wave the eligibility requirements to access the annual grants, so all MA’s can benefit during this difficult period,” said CAF President Ahmad Ahmad on CAF Online.
Also, CAF is assessing the opportunity of additional financial support to MA’s for the resumption and organisation of their domestic competitions.
EFA announced through its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Frederick Mngomezulu last Thursday that it was planning to restart the currently coronavirus halted season in four phases, beginning June 15, 2020. According to the detailed plan, football will be in full swing in the country by the end of July- though it is something that has been met with different views from political corridors to football circles.
Just weeks ago, FIFA announced a whopping over E9 million each for each association in what was termed the ‘Covid-19 Relief Fund’.
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