By David Owen
May 26 – FIFA is to conduct an inspection in earthquake-stricken Nepal to better evaluate the assistance to be given in the wake of the two devastating quakes in three weeks that have left more than 8,000 people dead.
The move, agreed during Monday’s meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee in Zurich, comes some four weeks after FIFA President Sepp Blatter wrote to Dhirendra Pradhan, general secretary of the All Nepal Football Association, expressing sympathy for the families of victims and offering support in the relief process.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has also been in touch with the mountainous republic and is assessing what form its assistance, likely to be channelled via Olympic Solidarity, can most effectively take.
The country was last week obliged to withdraw from hosting the Asian Weightlifting Championships in Kathmandu in July; these will now be held in Thailand.
The FIFA executive also approved the provision of immediate financial assistance for another two countries – Vanuatu and Mozambique.
A financial grant of $450,000 from FIFA’s solidarity fund goes to the Vanuatu Football Federation. The Pacific island-nation was badly hit in March by Cyclone Pam. This follows an earlier $200,000 solidarity grant for immediate humanitarian assistance.
Financial support of $200,000 was approved for Mozambique after the African nation was affected by severe flooding in its Zambezia province.
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