Covid-19 / FIFA: "Health as its first priority" (Olli Rehn, FIFA Covid-19 Relief Plan)

"FIFA has worked with health as its first priority, and rightly so. A good indicator of the situation is that at the worst point in early spring, all but four of the 211 FIFA member associations stopped [playing]…. In the name of solidarity, FIFA started to act to help mitigate the consequences suffered by associations and clubs as well as other stakeholders within football," stated Olli Rehn (FIN), chairperson of the FIFA COVID-19 Relief Plan steering committee,  on 08/08/2020.

"Much due to the fact that significant economical and administrative reforms have been made at FIFA, the Federation stands on very solid ground now, economically. That will now be used to help the sport recover from the Coronavirus crisis," added the Finn, who has been governor of the Bank of Finland since 2018, member of the Board of Governors of the European Central Bank and former vice-president of the European Commission, during a speech delivered during the Federation Congress of the Finnish Football Association (SPL-FBF).

"Over the spring and summer, we have been preparing FIFA’s Coronavirus relief…