WITH the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) president Victor Montagliani announcing recently that his Confederation has fast-tracked the process of financial aid for member associations who need help during the COVID-19 pandemic, GFF Wayne Forde, president has not only lauded the move, but called it logical to help the game return to normalcy.

“We understand that it is possible that once Guyana gets on top of the COVID-19 situation, many corporate entities will be trying to figure things out, and as such, sponsorship will become increasingly difficult,” Forde told Chronicle Sport yesterday.

As such, the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) president noted that “any form of assistance will be welcomed (because) the GFF will have to invest heavily to bring the game across Guyana to the standards that would be attractive, but we will have to help those Associations financially; so yes, CONCACAF’s and assistance is more than timely.”

According to Forde, much of the decisions recently announced by CONCACAF’s president and FIFA Vice -President Victor Montagliani, were berthed from lengthily conference calls and virtual meetings with the various ‘top brass’ from around the region, with the GFF boss showering the Canadian with praises.

The global spread of the virus has resulted in several sports, including football, being brought to a standstill, resulting in sporting associations being unable to host income-generating competitions.

Saying that he acknowledged some member associations had financial obligations and might be anxious in the circumstances, Montagliani told the Jamaica Observer that the continental body has eased the requirements of accessing the One CONCACAF Development Fund, a financial assistance programme set up to help member associations boost their development portfolios.

“For instance, before you could not use One CONCACAF for human resources, so what we have done is that during this period where there is no programming, we will allow it,” the vice-president of world football governing body FIFA told the newspaper.

“At the end of the day, football is about people and everybody will want to keep their staff on as much as possible, so we are allowing that funding to target that.”

Additionally, Montagliani said, additional assistance is being crafted in conjunction with FIFA and other continental governing bodies.

“We have already started bilateral discussions with all our members and stakeholders trying to take an inventory, as we are also working with FIFA, whose ultimate intention will be to help out world football,” he said.

“We are working hand in glove with not only FIFA, but other confederations because I think it’s important it be done in a holistic and responsible way.”

However, he stressed, FIFA had to be responsible in the use of its funds.
“This can’t be like the Government bailing out the auto industry, because FIFA doesn’t have that kind of money. What’s important is for us to look to see what the real damage is, who is eligible, and how they are eligible, what are the application process and all that kind of stuff,” Montagliani said.

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the Caribbean football calendar, resulting in the suspension of the FLOW Caribbean Club Championship scheduled for May, along with the 2021 Gold Cup qualifiers scheduled for June.

The CONCACAF Nations League Finals carded for June 4-7 in Texas has also been postponed.