Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment Ahmed Mahloof has revealed that the allowance provided for national team players has been halted due to the Covid-19 situation in the country.
This was revealed by the minister during a press conference on Monday afternoon at the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) where he revealed that the 328 players of the national team were given a total of MVR 1.4 million in allowances per month, as per the protocol followed.
Each member received an allowance of MVR 5,000 when it was being followed and the minister highlighted that the ministry had been providing these allowances to female and male players of all sports, equally and without discrimination.
Further stating that this was not the salary of these players, the minister noted that these allowances were given to players in accordance with their performance during training and attendance, after joining the national team.
The allowances have been halted as practices have been halted nationwide, due to the pandemic, said Mahloof.
Players and associations will know that this was a bonus given to players after they join the national team. These bonuses will resume once the current situation is over and practices begin again”Mahloof, Youth Minister
Mahloof also revealed that the ministry had been issuing similar allowances to club coaches under an agreement and that the ministry issues the funds to the clubs and not the coaches.
With the situation of the Covid-19 virus worsening in the Maldives day by day, all sports activities across the island nation have been halted. The Football Association of Maldives (FAM) has also cancelled the remainder of the 2019/2020 football season and national team practices have also been discontinued.
