Mark Addo, Vice President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), has underlined how important sound financial management is to success in football.

“As we all know, football is more than just a sport. It is a global force that unites people, communities, and nation. But for the game to thrive, especially off the pitch, sound financial management is non-negotiable. This workshop reflects FIFA’s commitment to equipping us with the tools and expertise needed to safeguard the resources that sustain football’s growth,” he said.

Addo spoke at the Marriot Hotel, Accra, on the first day of the FIFA Financial Governance Workshop, tailored to only English-speaking member associations from Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Cape Verde, The Gambia, and Kenya, among others, to prioritise accountability, transparency, and integrity

“Over the next three days, we will embark on a journey to deepen our understanding of financial governance, a cornerstone of integrity, accountability, and transparency in football,” Mark Addo announced.

“In Ghana, we have made strides in strengthening governance through modern auditing practices, robust financial systems, and fostering trust among our stakeholders.”

For the workshop, the FIFA team is led by Head of Financial Governance Christopher Suppiger, who outlined his expectations for participants of the workshop.

"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."

It is first time Ghana has been chosen by FIFA as the host of a Financial Governance Workshop.

GFA General Secretary Prosper Harrison Addo ESQ noted the significance FIFA's choice held, "We are happy about the opportunity to host the FIFA Financial Governance Workshop in Accra. 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."