Football Association of Ireland: debt

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) says it is still confident of clearing its debt for the development of the Aviva stadium by 2020.

Asked about its financial situation, the association said: “All of our most recent financial information is published in our annual audited accounts showing a modest net surplus for the last two years.”

The surplus, which was €142,000 in 2011, is calculated from current income and expenditure and excludes the FAI’s net debt, which stood at €64.2 million in the same year.

Last summer, FAI chief executive John Delaney confirmed that only interest was being paid on the loan. This amounted to €4.8 million in 2011, the last year for which accounts are available.

In the same year, the FAI had a turnover of €45 million but poor results by the Republic of Ireland team since then have hit the association’s earning capacity.

In a statement, however, it said: “The FAI operates to a long-term business plan which will see stadium debt cleared by 2020.

A number of factors will assist in this process such as €40 million Uefa TV rights money from 2014 as a result of a centralised television rights agreement, resale of premium seats from 2014, resale of Vantage Club seats’ resale/ renegotiation of naming rights and Uefa HatTrick funding every four years.

“In addition, the increased likelihood of qualification to the Euro Championships in 2016 and 2020, with a move to 24 team qualification may also bring further upside.”

The FAI initially incurred a debt of €74 million to fund development of the stadium in partnership with the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU).

It planned to clear the loan from sales of 10,000 premium seats but there was a relatively poor take-up, something that was blamed by fans on the FAI’s pricing structure.

The FAI marketed the seats at €12,000-€32,000 compared to the IRFU’s flat fee of €15,000 and an equivalent 10-year ticket price from the GAA at Croke Park of €11,600.

The IRFU incurred a lower bank debt of €38 million for its share of redeveloping the Aviva stadium. It also owns the site, which is being leased back to it and the FAI under a multi-annual agreement.