The FAI are set to receive 7.5 million euro from the Irish Government. RTE Sport report that the government will double its funding to the FAI. This funding will be an interest free loan of 2.5 euro annually for the three years. This set to to refinance the organisation and help save it.
Currently the FAI are in debt of around 62 million euros. So they are cash strapped. However this latest injection of money will likely help in some way or another. Sport Minister Shane Ross as well as Brendan Griffin met with representatives of UEFA. The FAI and the Bank of Ireland were also engaged in talks to come up with plans to help the organisation. It is also expected UEFA and Bank Of Ireland will contribute funding.
The Sport Ireland grant has also now been restored. The cash for this grant has also been doubled from 2.9 million euro up to 5.8 million euro. There has been no finance from the state since last year’s story broke of John Delaney lending the organisation 100,000 euro. Furthermore, Bank Of Ireland are set to sponsor the FAI. They will also hold the mortgage for the stadium.
Roy Barrett chairperson of the FAI was delighted with the plan, he said, This agreement is vital for Irish football and allows us to take the first steps in the rebirth of our sport. We can now progress with our plans to restructure and rebuild the Association and do what is best for our staff. He continued, “On behalf of the Board and the Association, I would like to thank all our partners for their support and their commitment to the future of our game and we look forward to working with them, our staff and our stakeholders to bring this plan to fruition.
This is somewhat good news considering the association was on its knee 2 or 3 months ago. If all goes to plan hopefully the debt will be cleared. Irish football can go back to the grassroots and help clubs out that badly need to be.
