Financial offer could end stadium saga

Senior members of the Government last night confirmed to representatives of the FAI that it is prepared to advance the association tens of millions of pounds against advance sales of corporate boxes and 10-year ticket sales if the association agrees to abandon Eircom Park and choose Stadium Ireland as its future home.

The offer, details of which will be made public this afternoon, means the FAI may be within a matter of days of resolving the long-running saga of its proposed future home.

Delegates at two key meetings of the association's decision-making bodies are now likely to be asked to make a straight choice between the alternatives, the first involving the construction of the planned stadium at Citywest, the second a tenancy at Stadium Ireland in Abbots town accompanied by the receipt of substantial grant aid from the Government.

That financial package was last night confirmed to include a commitment by the Government to underwrite the FAI advance sales in the Government's venue, a figure which has been estimated in some quarters as £45 million. But it is also understood that commitments have been given that, as part of the State's improved overall support for sport, there would be substantial additional funds available for specific projects within the game.

While none of the officers would comment on the proposed deal last night, FAI president Pat Quigley said he was unsure of the precise value involved, remarking: "It's a very detailed and complex document and that is part of the reason we have agreed not to discuss it until we receive further clarification on it over the course of tomorrow."

If the suggested figures do stand up, however, accepting the offer would guarantee the association up-front revenue far beyond what any sports organisation in the State has ever had available, and it is expected that the funds could be advanced long before the proposed stadium is built or the association ever plays a game there. Such funding would allow the organisation to begin a wide-ranging programme of investment at various levels of the game.

It would, however, have the long-term drawback of leaving the FAI as a tenant in the new development. The lack of control involved in this sort of arrangement at Lansdowne Road was one of the key factors in the decision to launch the Eircom Park project two years ago, although more central to the proposed scheme was the prospect of generating revenue streams from outside the game, something that has become an increasingly long-term hope over the course of the stadium's troubled history.

That such substantial revenue is now on offer to the association without the need for any of the inherent risks associated with its own proposed stadium development may make the delegates' choice on Friday a rather straightforward one. But there was no sign last night that the association's chief executive, Bernard O'Byrne, was likely to alter his support for Eircom Park at this stage.

O'Byrne could not be contacted last night, but in recent days he has continued to insist that the offer from the Government was not as lucrative as it was being made out to be.

Having sought further clarification on a number of issues relating to the terms on which the association was being offered the use of Stadium Ireland, representatives of the association will now meet members of the Campus Ireland board, led by Paddy Teehan, at Merrion Square this evening.

Before that, the Government document will start to be distributed so delegates entitled to vote at Friday's meetings, as well as the clubs and other bodies that they represent, can start a process of consultation.

It is possible that a final decision on which one to drop could be made at that point, although a move to allow a period of consultation, which would not be expected to last more than a week, may be made.

Another possibility is that the appointment of an independent assessor, a suggestion that had received some support in recent times, may still proceed, although it now looks far less likely.