SVGFF Second VP optimistic about FIFA’s money halt

Second Vice President of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football (SVGFF) Marvin Fraser is confident that FIFA’s halt in payments to the Confederation of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF) will be lifted soon.

Last week, FIFA issued a notice that a US$10 million payment to CONCACAF and CONMEBOL (South America Confederation) has been put on hold until further notice.

The world governing body cited ongoing investigations into corruption, as it is “assessing further steps” to “increase the level of assurance.”

Three past presidents of CONCACAF and CONMEBOL are among dozens of individuals who have been charged with corruption by US prosecutors.

In the most recent developments, CONCACAF has stated that it has met all of FIFA’s requests for documents to “ensure the issue is resolved in a timely manner.”

Fraser told SEARCHLIGHT that the decisions by FIFA are “procedural matters”, in light of the ongoing investigations into corruption.

St Vincent and the Grenadines is among the 41 members of CONCACAF and also part of the smaller Caribbean Football Union (CFU), which counts 31 members.

Fraser noted that St Vincent and the Grenadines being part of CONCACAF is indirectly affected, as the region is treated as a whole and not individually.

He underscored that St Vincent and the Grenadines continues to exercise compliance and accountability with the monies received from FIFA and CONCACAF.

Apart from direct payments from FIFA through its annual subventions, as well as securing of projects and grants, St Vincent and the Grenadines’ football lifeblood also comes from assistance through CONCACAF to fund other programmes.

Furthermore, CONCACAF provides the CFU grouping with a monthly subvention of US $45,000, which funds the administrative needs of the Caribbean football associations.

The SVGFF second VP Fraser, is projecting that with the FIFA presidential elections set for February 26, things should be sorted out thereafter.(RT)