Football Federation Samoa handed out shopping vouchers to Football Clubs for players and officials as part of the OFC COVID19 Solidarity Fund assistance.
The OFC Solidarity Fund was provided in order to support staff, volunteers, players, coaches, referees and the wider football community across Oceania during this difficult time. The grant, which is part of the OFC FIFA Forward funding, was designed to cover four key areas including food and hygiene packets, loss of income, medical allowances and self-isolation costs. In addition, the OFC Solidarity Fund also provided assistance to those countries that were directly affected by the Category 5 Tropical Cyclone Harold during this pandemic.
The Football Federation of Samoa’s Social Responsibility team was tasked with collecting information from club and football community members who would be eligible for this assistance.
Social Responsibility Officer Maupenei Asafo stated that the recipients of the vouchers are players and officials involved in football activities. “Each club was given forms to complete for members who lost their jobs (staff redundancy) that affected the livelihood of their families especially in terms of their food source and income as many footballers depend on their income and allowance from football. It will take time to fully recover but the assistance from OFC through the OFC Solidarity Fund is highly appreciated”.
