The Guyana Football Federation on Saturday published the official rulebook for its first Members Financial Assistance Programme (M-FAP), opening the door for applications for funding from a ground-breaking initiative that mirrors FIFA’s own global funding mechanism.
Under M-FAP, members of the GFF are now entitled to support in four key areas: administration and operations, equipment and materials, competitions and technical development, and infrastructure.
The following pots of funding are now available to GFF members as follows:
- Regional associations: G$600,000 each per year for admin operations
- Affiliates: G$500,000 each per year for a development project
- Elite League clubs: G$400,000 each per year for equipment and development
On an annual basis, each regional association will also receive 100 footballs, 100 cones, 100 training hurdles and 100 bibs. Every two years, regional associations will receive two sets of senior home and away kits and two sets of junior home and away kits, for males and females.
This equipment is intended to support the proper running of the GFF Academy Training Centres, and other development competitions and activities.
Regional Association will also receive funding for their Senior Men and Women leagues and Boys and Girls competitions.
“M-FAP is a watershed moment for the development of football in Guyana and for the empowerment of our entire membership – it has the potential to transform the game forever,” said GFF President Wayne Forde.
“This rulebook spells out what funding is available and how our membership can apply for support in areas such as the day-to-day running of a regional association, ensuring there is adequate equipment for training and development activities, enhancing grounds and staging competitions. We are very attentive to the needs of our members and have developed the MFAP programme to meet those needs and mitigate the challenges that have stymied progress at the regional associations in particular,” he said.
The aim of the initiative, announced in full at the 2020 GFF Ordinary Congress, is to democratise funding from the FIFA Forward programme and to give members access to greater financial support, while retaining the power to tailor that support to their own specific needs.
“This programme was built with save guards to ensure that every member is afforded fair and equitable access to resources. However, in order to be a part of this pioneering funding programme, all members must adhere to strict compliance rules and regulations to ensure the effective and efficient use of funds,” Forde said. “This will be closely monitored by the GFF throughout as part of our efforts to enhance the good governance of football across Guyana.”
All funding requests and activations must be managed in strict compliance with M-FAP regulations and GFF oversight protocols, in line with FIFA’s own structure for ensuring the proper, accountable and transparent use of financial support. (GFF)
