Football Association of Maldives (FAM) declared MVR 90.4 million as its annual budget for 2019, during the Congress held Monday.
The estimated expenditure for this year stands at MVR 94.9 million, indicating a budget deficit of MVR 4.5 million.
FAM estimates that the association will receive MVR 43.2 million from sponsorships, MVR 31.2 million from FIFA, MVR 10.8 million from AFC, MVR 1.8 million from the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Engagement and MVR 405,000 through ticket sales.
- Financial assistance to local clubs: MVR 30 million
- Projects: MVR 14.9 million
- Administrative costs: MVR 13.2 million
- Technical development: MVR 5.9 million
- Competitions: MVR 9.2 million
- National team: MVR 8.4 million
Out of the 13 clubs present at the congress, 12 clubs voted in favour of the budget.
The Chairman of Victory Sports Club, Dr Ibrahim Nashid, voted against the budget and put several questions forward regarding the budget.
Nashid questioned the identity of the sponsors contributing to the MVR 43.2 million and requested details on how the MVR 30 million allocated for development would be utilized.
President of FAM Bassam Adeel Jaleel stated that the sponsorship funds will be utilized for financing assistance to local clubs and that he would reveal their identities if requested through a formal letter.
Nashid declared it difficult for him to approve the budget without details of the income sources.
The MVR 30 million was previously funded by the government through State-Owned Enterprises Assistants (SOC). However, FAM decided to approach sponsors to finance the amount as the association was uncertain whether the current administration would provide the funds.
Bassam stated that the funds are not solely for financing monthly salaries of the athletes but for the development of football through the clubs as well, adding that the money is for expenditure such as running the academy, youth team and the administrative offices.
Nashid also raised the issue of spending MVR 13.2 million on administrative work, while only MVR 3.7 million was allocated for women’s football promotion. Furthermore, Nashid questioned how FAM would raise MVR 405,000 from ticket sales.
Bassam declared that the large administrative cost was due to administrative work conducted across Maldives.
Additionally, Bassam said FAM will hand over ticket sales of the Premier League tickets to the clubs themselves and stating that the income figures from ticket sales were estimated.
Previously, SOC had approved the financial assistance for 2019. However, acting Minister of Sports Ali Waheed stated that he is unable to currently assure any financial assistance due to the government’s zero tolerance policy on corruption.
The Minister reasoned that the administration does not wish to award additional funds without ascertaining how previous funds were utilized.
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