THE Irish government is to meet Uefa chiefs for crisis talks on January 14 amid rising concerns for the future of Irish football.
Irish sports minister Shane Ross told an Oireachtas committee hearing that the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) – which has debts of at least €55m – had asked for an €18m bailout from the government at a meeting on Monday.
The FAI, who refused to attend yesterday’s hearing, last night issued a statement expressing their "deep disappointment" at minister Ross's decision to break what they say was a "confidence".
In the face of such ongoing financial difficulties, however, there are fears for what the future might hold for Irish football and international and domestic level.
According to Uefa’s statutes “if a member state is dissolved, its membership of Uefa shall terminate at the same time”, which would also have grave consequences for the League of Ireland.
"My guess is that if the FAI goes, the League of Ireland goes the same way," Ross said at the latest Oireachtas committee hearing.
Ross outlined his intention to meet League of Ireland stakeholders before the crunch talks with European football's governing body next month.
Sinn Fein TD Jonathan O’Brien is a former Cork City chairman, and was famously ejected from a game at Turner’s Cross earlier this year for his part in a ‘Delaney Out’ protest.
Former FAI chief John Delaney once branded the League of Ireland a “difficult child” for the association and, at yesterday’s hearing, O’Brien made clear where he felt the finger of blame should be pointed.
"League of Ireland supporters for years have been trying to explain exactly how the FAI operates,” he said.
“They have ridiculed us, they have laughed at us, they threw some of us out of football grounds. We were not the problem child.
“The FAI were the absentee fathers who didn't give an absolute bollocks about the League of Ireland, and continue to not care. The consequences of the FAI being liquidated are unbearable to think about.”
In their statement, FAI executive lead Paul Cooke claimed Ross’s comments could make securing the future of the association and the safeguarding of jobs "all the more difficult".
"The board, management and staff at the FAI are working hard to avoid an insolvency process,” it read.
“We know better than anyone the consequences that would have on our international teams, the League of Ireland and the hundreds of thousands who play football up and down the country every weekend. The board wants to do what is best for all those stakeholders and for our staff.
"We made it clear to government on Monday that the Board is frustrated at the delay in the appointment of an independent chairperson and three independent directors. Like the government, the association wants to see these appointments made immediately.
"The process to appoint independent directors commenced at the earliest possible date following the adoption of the governance review group report but we still don't know the identity of the nominees for these positions.
"Until the refinancing package is signed-off, it is unlikely that independent directors will be available for appointment. What was said in the Oireachtas today will not help the recruitment process for those independent directors."
