The FAI's Accounts Bring More Bad News...

Conor Neville
By Conor Neville
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Ahead of their AGM next month, delegates of the Football Association of Ireland have received the latest accounts up to the year ending 2014.

And, in spite of FIFA's decision to write off the 2010 'loan', the FAI's debt mountain has increased once more.

It now stands at a forbidding €51.2 million. This is an increase of over €1 million on last year.

The debt has been accumulated largely thanks to the cost of funding the Aviva Stadium. The FAI's strategy of funding the stadium with the sale of 10-year corporate tickets originally priced at an average of $20,000 has been a hideous failure. Despite John Delaney's confident predictions of success, based on the grounds that there were '33,000 millionaires in the country', the take-up on this offer has been miserable.

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The FAI hierarchy have made it clear that the association's financial position depends greatly on the national team's results in the autumn. Given that Ireland's hopes of qualification for Euro 2016 have receded greatly this month, this does not sound reassuring.

On the other hand, the FAI insist that they do not budget for qualification for major tournaments.

In positive news, the FAI's turnover increased by 4% to €38 million, although this is primarily down to the €10m windfall that has followed on from UEFA's new centralised television deal. Sponsorship revenue has also increased by €8 million.

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The AGM will take place on 18 July. Based on recent precedent, John Delaney will not be taking questions from journalists.

This investigation by Darragh Murphy in the Irish Times into how the FAI spends money is worth reading. The most striking revelation is the amount of money the FAI spend on staff relative to the domestic league and underage football.

Read more: Why These Irish Fans Are Hopping Mad Over John Delaney

 

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