FIFA President Gianni Infantino is proud of the massive investment the global football governing body has made to African Football over the years.
The FIFA boss was quick to point out that since 2016, over USD one billion investment has been made to the Member Associations in Africa especially through the FIFA Forward Programme.
The FIFA Forward programme is a global initiative launched in 2016 to advance football development by providing increased funding, enhancing impact, and improving oversight for FIFA’s 211 member associations and 6 confederations. Operating in cycles (Forward 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0), it offers tailor-made support and financial assistance for projects ranging from infrastructure to operations, with oversight through contracts of agreed objectives, independent financial audits, and monitoring by the FIFA Development Committee.
In Uganda, FUFA which is the body that superintendents football has been a big beneficiary of the FIFA Forward Programme through projects such as Kadiba Stadium, the Proposed FUFA Stadium in Lugazi and the COVID-19. relief.
According to a financial report released by FIFA in 2021, Uganda received $3.37m (about Shs 11.5bn) from FIFA Forward and a further $1m (about Shs 3.7bn) from the COVID-19 Reliefe fund.
The FIFA President also spoke of football’s responsibility to give hope and dreams to the children of Africa as he addressed representatives of the continent’s 54 FIFA Member Associations (MAs).
