The Macau Football Association (MFA) will receive a new cash subsidy from the governing body of world football – FIFA – under the program FIFA Forward 3.0.
The announcement was made by FIFA after yesterday’s FIFA Council that discussed the revenues generated by the sport in the period between 2019-2022 as well as expected revenues for the upcoming 4-year period (2023-2026).
In the meeting, FIFA’s president Gianni Infantino announced an increase of 29% of the subsidy handed to national federations for the development of the sport (Forward 2.0), which will see the amount rise from the previous USD7 million to USD8 million (MOP64.7 million) for the upcoming four years.
According to the report, the previously distributed MOP56.6 million (2019-2022) was mostly spent on funding MFA’s new headquarters, which according to FIFA will accommodate a total of 50 employees who will work to support the delivery of a long-term local strategic football development plan.
To inspect the status of such work, a FIFA delegation recently visited Macau, having the opportunity to assist with the recent Chinese New Year Tournament, held at Taipa’s Olympic Stadium over first weekend of this month.
The delegation was led by the director of FIFA Member Associations, Asia & Oceania, Sanjeevan Balasingam, and Regional Office Development Manager, Lavin Vignesh.
After the meeting, and noting the results obtained in the last four-year period, Infantino said, “FIFA’s unprecedented investment in football is the result of our solid financial transparency and stands as a concrete example of how we are aiming to make football truly global,” adding, “the resounding success of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar has been key to the organization’s ability to fulfill its mission concerning our member associations and the world of football, despite the multiple challenges we faced during the past cycle, not least the Covid-19 pandemic.”
FIFA invested over USD13M in MFA since 2016
According to FIFA, the organization has, since 2016 and through the FIFA Forward program as well as the FIFA Covid-19 Relief Fund, invested more than USD13 million (MOP105.1 million) “into infrastructure, daily operational costs, and national team travel for both men’s and women’s national teams in Macau.”
As for the new MFA HQ, FIFA states that it is located in downtown Macau and includes 935 square meters of office space that will “cater to the growing operations, activities, and needs of the association, in line with MFA’s long-term football development plans.”
During his visit to Macau, Sanjeevan Balasingam said, “FIFA is proud to celebrate this milestone with the MFA today, as the Chinese New Year Cup 2023 welcomed back international club teams and fans to the Macau Olympic stadium for the first time post the Covid-19 pandemic,” adding, “the pandemic severely affected Macau and the East Asia region. On a small peninsular like Macau where land is scarce, it is still vitally important that the MFA can have a fully functioning headquarters. This will enable them to continue to propel football forward through development initiatives ranging from grassroots to elite football.”
At the same opportunity, the vice president of the MFA, Chong Coc Veng, also said, “during these difficult times, we focused on strategic planning to develop football in Macau, as one of FIFA’s smallest member associations. Undoubtedly, without FIFA’s financial support through the Covid-19 Relief Programme and the constant support and advice from FIFA’s regional office, this landmark day when football officially returned to Macau would not have been possible.”
