World soccer governing body FIFA is to give US$2 million (1.5 million euros), additional to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) pledged US$1 million (750,000 euros), to a fund of soccer associations help tsunami-affected nations.
The money will be spent in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand, mostly to restore soccer facilities and provide balls, shirts, boots and goals, FIFA said in a statement late Tuesday.
FIFA and the AFC also plan to work together to coordinate help from other continental confederations and national associations, ranging from charity match earnings to donations of equipment. FIFA said it also is working with the Confederation of African Football to evaluate the situation in Kenya, Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania, which also were affected by the disaster.
(Xinhua News Agency January 6, 2005)
