Ghana Football Association (GFA) Vice President Mark Addo has officially opened a three-day FIFA Financial Governance Workshop in Accra, aimed at enhancing financial management, accountability, and transparency within football organisations across Africa.

The workshop, which commenced today (Wednesday, January 29, 2025), at the Marriott Hotel in Accra, has brought together General Secretaries and Chief Finance Officers from ten FIFA Member Associations, including Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Cape Verde, The Gambia, and Kenya.
 

The FIFA team of experts leading the workshop includes Christoph Suppiger, Head of Financial Governance; Lucca Piazza, Director of Reforms Implementation; Atouk, FIFA's Finance Services Manager; Andrea Portabella, Senior Capacity Development and Education Manager; Silmara Sousa, FIFA Regional Coordinator for Africa; and Raissa Toure, FIFA Division Office Coordinator.

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) is represented by General Secretary Prosper Harrison Addo (Esq.), Chief Finance Officer Collins Dei, Joyce Asare, and Saiyida Maryam Siba, Head of Financial Reporting.

Speaking at the event, Christoph Suppiger emphasised that the workshop would provide Member Associations with essential tools to avoid financial mismanagement and strengthen governance structures.

"At the end of the training, the Member Associations should be entitled to learn a lot about different topics such as how to prevent conflict of interest, measures to put in place in order to select different providers...," he said.

"We have elaborated a financial governance guide which contains a lot of materials for Member Associations to learn and then to implement in their relative Member Associations."

This marks the first time FIFA has chosen Ghana as the host of a Financial Governance Workshop, a decision that General Secretary of the GFA, Prosper Harrison Addo, believes reflects the association’s strong financial management record.

"We are happy about the opportunity to host the FIFA Financial Governance Workshop in Accra," Addo stated.

"That said, it shows that FIFA is in sync with us and they believe we can host because in choosing the host, they take the opportunity to look at the way you have been managing your FA."

"If we were not managing the FA well, FIFA would not have given us this opportunity. We are excited to have this workshop here in Accra and to have our colleagues coming over."

The workshop is exclusively for English-speaking Member Associations on the African continent and is expected to equip football administrators with the necessary financial strategies to ensure long-term stability and sustainability within their respective associations.