FOOTBALL House has warned its member clubs against misusing the COVID-19 relief fund given by world governing body FIFA on non-footballing expenditure.

Following the devastating effect the global outbreak of the Coronavirus has had on football, FIFA set aside funds to help mitigate the impact of the pandemic on football clubs.

FIFA approved the decision to make available up to US$ 1.5 billion in order to support the Member Associations through the FIFA COVID-19 Relief Plan.

Each Football Association is entitled to US$1.5 million which will be given in three instalments of US$500,000.
In his weekly column, Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) president Andrew Kamanga, Monday, stated that Football House had already disbursed the money to Super Division and National Division One teams.

“The first batch of USD500, 000 has already been disbursed to the 211 member associations. On our part, we have received this allocation and have proceeded to disburse it to our membership. We have been prompt in disbursing to our membership given the financial stress that the COVID-19 has caused in the game.

So far, all the Super League teams and National Division One have received their allocation while the lower division clubs have also started receiving. The delay in the lower division clubs is mainly due to the verification of bank details,” Kamanga stated.

He warned against misuse of the funds.

“It must, however, be noted that these funds should not be diverted to non-football expenditure. FIFA places a high premium on transparency and accountability and we expect that our members should apply the same levels of prudency. Any misuse of these funds will attract sanctions, including the possibility of being excluded from the next cycle in January 2021,” stated Kamanga.