THE executive committee of the Nigeria Football Federation has made a resolution to put finds from FIFA to judicious use for the benefit of the national teams.
The national governing body’s highest decision-making organ met in Abuja yesterday and issued a communique last night.
Among other decisions, the standout resolution of the meeting was the adoption of the proposal to build hostels and practice pitches for the Super Eagles and other national teams.
“The Board unanimously endorsed a proposal by its President to utilise the residual funds from FIFA Forward 2.0 and the proposed funds from the incipient FIFA Forward 3.0 for the construction of a befitting hostel accommodation for the national teams, and the construction of two football pitches (one natural turf and one synthetic turf) for use by the teams at the Goal Project section, Package B of the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja,” part of the communique states.
Under the FIFA 2.0 programme of 2018, each member association stood to receive up to $6m over a period of four years: from 2019 to 2022.
“Concretely, each member association shall therefore be entitled to receive:
a. Up to $1 million per year for operational/running costs; and
b. Up to $2 million over the four-year 2019-2022 cycle for specific projects,” FIFA breaks it down in the document.
As for the FIFA 3.0 programme launched last December just before the Qatar 2022 World Cup, the global governing body will give each member association up to $8m for the four-year cycle of 2023 to 2026.
“Each member association shall therefore be entitled to receive:
a. up to $5 million over the four-year cycle (2023-2026) for operational/
running costs; and
b. $3 million over the four-year cycle (2023-2026) for specific projects,” FIFA clarifies in the document.
The body will also release $650,000 shall in January of each year to cover member associations’ operational/running costs.
In other resolutions, the NFF exco affirmed that the Federation Cup final must be held before the conclusion of the Nigeria Premier Football League season in order to avoid the fiasco of last year when the competition was not concluded.
The board also charged the national teams to succeed in their various competitions: the Super Eagles in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, the Flying Eagles and the Golden Eaglets in the U-20 and U-17 AFCONs, and the Super Falcons in the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
