FIFA announced Friday will release all operational funding due to member associations for the years 2019 and 2020 in the coming days as the first step of a relief plan to assist those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This measure will mean around $150 million will be distributed among the 211 national governing bodies.

FIFA will release $500,000 to each member association in the coming days as well as any remaining entitlement for 2019 and 2020.

“The pandemic has caused unprecedented challenges for the entire football community and, as the world governing body, it is FIFA’s duty to be there and support the ones that are facing acute needs,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement. “This starts by providing immediate financial assistance to our member associations, many of which are experiencing severe financial distress. This is the first step of a far-reaching financial relief plan we are developing to respond to the emergency across the whole football community. Together with our stakeholders, we are we assessing the losses and we are working on the most appropriate and effective tools to implement the other stages of this relief plan.

“I would like to thank the chairpersons of the FIFA Development Committee, Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, and the FIFA Finance Committee, Alejandro Domínguez, for their commitment and urgent approval of these measures by their committees.”

As part of the measure, all remaining entitlements of member associations to operational costs under FIFA’s Forward 2.0 Programme will be released in full for the years 2019 and 2020. The release of the second instalment of operational costs for 2020, which was due in July, will be paid immediately.

Under normal circumstances, FIFA’s member associations would have only received the full amount of the contribution upon fulfillment of specific criteria. Now, FIFA is transferring this amount as an active support to help all member associations.

This immediate financial assistance should be used to mitigate the financial impact of COVID-19 on football in member associations, namely to meet financial or operational obligations that they may have towards staff and third parties.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.