FIFA has held a two-day Financial Governance Workshop in Jakarta, coinciding with the FIFA U-17 World Cup™ in Indonesia.

Representatives from thirteen East and South-East Asian Member Associations (MAs) gathered for the workshop which was aimed to further develop the capacity of the participating MAs in financial governance and management.

Using the newly created Financial Governance Guide as a framework, the workshop also provided a platform for the attendees to discuss the central audit and reporting process while highlighting specific cases relevant to individual MAs.

The Financial Governance Workshop is a crucial component of ensuring that MAs correctly and responsibly use the development funds received from FIFA, mainly through FIFA Forward. The FIFA Forward Development Programme, which was launched in 2016, has driven football development through the provision of funds across the global football community for promotion of activities such as youth football, technical development and football infrastructure.

Since its inception in 2016, the programme’s first two iterations over seven years saw a total investment of over 2.8 billion USD in a diverse array of projects across the six confederations, zonal/regional associations and 211 FIFA MAs.

Financial Governance Guide aims to ensure that all MAs and confederations can make the most of the funds received under the Forward Programme, including by obtaining the best value for money and decreasing the likelihood of any misuse.

“As an integral part of FIFA Forward, for each financial year we conduct a FIFA central audit review of all of the MAs and confederations,” said Tom Gorissen, Director Member Associations Services. “The purpose of this workshop and that of the Financial Governance guide is to help MAs and confederations prepare for the central review in the best possible way and on the longer-term to implement good-practice standards in financial management at the MAs.”

The workshop itself featured a combination of presentations, hands-on sessions and bilateral meetings focussed on financial reporting and governance, financial operations, and accounting systems.

MAs from Timor-Leste, Mongolia and Singapore were called upon to present best practice examples on; planning and budgeting, funds transferred to subsequent recipients, and modern accounting software and project accounting.

“FIFA has always played the role of an enabler to MAs, and the provision of the FIFA Forward Programme is a key driver of football development across the globe,” said Yazeen Buhari, General Secretary of the Football Association of Singapore. “As such, oversight and financial governance are critical. This workshop addressed exactlythose in a consultative and engaging manner for all participants, with an aim to ensure strong financial governance structures and processes continue to remain as critical features.”