New Zealand appeals for help from FIFA's $4.6 billion reserves, Australia likely to follow suit

New Zealand's football federation has appealed to FIFA for financial assistance following the devastating financial impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on member federations across the world.

Andrew Pragnell, chief executive of NZ Football told New Zealand news outlet Stuff that New Zealand football had officially requested financial aid from FIFA to keep their football association afloat.

New Zealand has registered less than 1000 cases so far and has suspended all football operations until May 2. Like Australia, both New Zealand's male and female teams have qualified for the Tokyo 2021 Olympics.

"We'll be absolutely interested and have written to them actually," Pragnell said.

"They sit in a robust financial position you might say, but having said that they have 211 Member Associations, probably all of whom are in a state of disruption and we're mindful that while we need to extend requests to all arms of our relationships, they'll be dealing with a huge number of issues themselves."

While New Zealand may be a more likely candidate for FIFA assistance given the size of their federation and position within the far smaller Oceania confederation, FIFA is reportedly opening up its $4.6 billion cash reserve with the hope of providing financial assistance.

“FIFA is in a strong financial situation and it’s our duty to do the utmost to help them in their hour of need,” FIFA said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Therefore, we confirm FIFA is working on possibilities to provide assistance to the football community around the world after making a comprehensive assessment of the financial impact this pandemic will have on football.”

Pragnell said that the size of FIFA's coffers is reassuring during the unprecedented financial downfall of football worldwide.

"If you look across sports, having a robust and strong international body sitting behind your national body is one of the things you'd look for in terms of long-term stability and I can safely say we've got that."