Fifa €5m mentioned in FAI’s 2014 accounts

The FAI’s now famous €5 million “settlement” with Fifa gets a belated mention in the association’s accounts for 2014 – or at least in the letter that accompanies them. However, the latest returns raise new questions about the current state of the organisation’s financial standing with Uefa, as well as the interest rate it is paying on the refinancing of its stadium debt.

In a letter to the clubs, leagues and other affiliates that receive the accounts ahead of next month’s agm in Sligo, it is stated that the association owed Uefa some €5 million at the end of 2014. This figure is around €3.5 million lower than the European federation said it was owed by the FAI just weeks ago, suggesting the borrowing may have continued into the early part of this year.

The FAI’s turnover for last year is up slightly, to €38 million from €36.6 million, something it acknowledges is down to the new centralised TV deal organised through Uefa, as well as sponsorship income that has increased by around €1 million to €8 million.

However, the substantial broadcast revenues have only just managed to compensate the negative effect on gate and other receipts of there having only been one home competitive game (against Gibraltar) and four home friendlies over the period covered.

Better year

A better year on the latter front would be expected in 2015 due to the games against England, Scotland and Germany but, despite positive projections, it is entirely unclear at this stage how much the FAI will be receiving from Uefa given that the loans received appear to be given as an advance on future revenues.

The sums involved are hugely significant by the standards of the association, with the Uefa TV deal believed to be worth up to €10 million per year, or more than 25 per cent of the FAI’s turnover.

As was the case with the Fifa money before it became public a few weeks ago, no specific mention of it is made in the accounts, with the accompanying letter simply stating that as of December 31st 2014, €5 million was owed to Uefa.

Delegates are also informed that the association currently owes a further €43.75 million. Additionally, it appears to have an overdraft of fractionally more than €2.5 million.

The cost of interest and other charges relating to the servicing of these debts is not broken down but the total is put at €4.7 million over the course of the year – although it appears that €1.1 million may relate to a one-off fee or charge.

Interest rate

There is, in any case, no mention of the interest rate being paid to Corporate Capital Trust, which took over the association’s stadium debt from Danske Bank at the end of 2013.

Much is made in the letter, signed by John Delaney and association president Tony Fitzgerald, of the writedown achieved during that transfer, but the scale of the benefit or cost involved cannot properly be judged by members without further information on the terms involved.

FAI benefactor Denis O’Brien suggested recently that the new deal was a favourable one for the association, although he also appeared to indicate that the association is paying a higher rate than might have been expected.

It remains to be seen whether the letter that accompanies the accounts will, after all that has gone on, help to ensure yet another year without a single question on governance at the agm. But after Delaney said in mid-April that he would answer questions from journalists relating to all aspects of the running of the association at a pre-agm event in Sligo, that event was first postponed and then cancelled.