Thinkerman Posted March 13, 2003 Somalia, Burundi Blacklisted The Somali and Burundian Football Federations have had their funding from Fifa stopped. Along with Puerto Rico, they were unable to provide proof of how the money from Fifa's Financial Assistance Programme had been spent. An audit of the Somali federation in 2001 was unable to find evidence of how 84 percent of the funding had been used. In Burundi's case $114,000 was unaccounted for in the period from 2000 to 2002. The Programme provides $1 million every four years for each national association, money which is intended to help improve stadia, allow teams to take part in competitions and to cover other costs in developing the game. In another blow, Somalia's FA boss Farah Addo was ordered to pay damages to Fifa President Sepp Blatter for defamation. Addo was ordered to pay Blatter $7,500 compensation and cover legal costs after claiming that bribery had assisted the Fifa president's re-election in 1998. The Caf vice-president made the claims during the 2002 election campaign, when Caf president Issa Hayatou was Blatter's only challenger. Addo was earlier banned from attending any Fifa event or competition for two years in an internal disciplinary move. The Court of Meilen in Switzerland upheld an injunction prohibiting Addo from making further statements against Blatter. bbc.co.uk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
