FIFA Forward Funding: GFA spends $300k in 3 years on footballs

GFA’s communications Director Henry Asante-Twum says the FA has pent $300k out of the $8.6m FIFA Forward 1.0 and 2.0 on footballs; others monies were invested in IT infrastructure and administrative structures

Victor Atsu Tamakloe December 25, 2023

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The Communications Director of the Ghana Football Association Henry Asante- Twum has told Asaase Sports that the FA has invested $300 thousand in purchasing footballs for clubs in the country in the last three years.

The said amount is part of the $8.6m provided by FIFA Forward funding from 2016 to 2022.

The FIFA Forward initiative is tailor-made support for football development that the organisation provides for all its 211 member associations (MAs) and six confederations.

”We announced some time ago that about $100,000 will go into purchasing of footballs for all our Regional Football Associations because our clubs in Division Two, Division three and then colts leagues lacked the needed the basic amenities to help them develop players at the grassroots level.” – Henry said on TeamTalk.

“So it’s something we’ve been doing for the past three years. Every season, we invest $100,000 to purchase footballs for all the RFAs and then it is supplied to the clubs.” He added.

Henry also revealed that GFA has invested a lot in IT equipments, capacity building, administrative structures, supply of the basic need go into the fundamentals to cushion clubs and women’s division.

“Administratively we also decided to invest in IT, we bought internet and then administrative computers and communication gadgets for all the 18 Premier League clubs to be used at their Secretariat, all the 48 Premier League clubs also benefited from it.

”The 20 Women’s Premier League clubs also benefited, not only the Premier League clubs, but all the 10 regional football associations also benefited from the IT initiative that we announced as part of the benefits we received from the FIFA forward 1.0”.

“So, it has gone into various areas of administration. But, football is such that once it doesn’t show on the pitch, everybody seems to forget what you have done in terms of investments.”

FIFA Forward Report

According to a report from world football’s governing body, the Ghana Football Association has spent $8.6 million on projects funded with money from the FIFA Forward programme since 2016.
Ghana was entitled to get $10.7 million in that period, but just over 80 percent of that amount ($8.6 million) was approved by FIFA.

Here’s a breakdown of how Ghana spent the money.