THE BARBADOS FOOTBALL Association (BFA) hopes to hear from FIFA shortly.
And this time it won’t be UEFA president Michel Platini doing the talking.
All that is left now for the financially strapped association to do is await a report, after FIFA completed its forensic audit just under two weeks ago.
BFA president Randy Harris told MIDWEEK SPORT that KPMG, one of the largest audit, tax and advisory companies in the world, had carried out the audit under the direction of football’s governing body.
“KPMG came in and did the audit . . . so all that we can do now is to wait for FIFA’s official report, and we will move forward from there. I really don’t have any idea as to how long that report will take because this is my first time being exposed to anything like this,” Harris admitted.
“What I can say though is FIFA will be doing our audits in the future.”
The forensic audit was ordered by the FIFA after a number of questions had been raised about the BFA finances in 2013.
On a more positive note, Harris pointed out that the BFA’s AstroTurf facility in Wildey, which had formed part of FIFA’s GOAL project, and which had also been embroiled in controversy, had been given a nod of approval by Platini.
Platini visited the facility during his 24-hour stay and, according to Harris, he was very impressed with what he saw.
“Platini said it was a very good playing surface and that we were lucky that the Government of Barbados had leased that amount of land for football development.
“He really likes the facility, and in fact, he told me that most of the new clubs in Europe which are now constructing venues were using the same artificial grass which is being used at the AstroTurf,” the BFA head revealed.
“It’s an all-weather pitch so it doesn’t need as much looking after, it is a lot easier to maintain and less problems.”
Commenting on Platini’s high-profile visit to the island, Harris said it proved to be a very successful initiative.
He noted that during the UEFA president’s stay he had explained what was needed in Barbados, such as the technical assistance with training coaches and having well-educated people in football to deal with the technical issues.
