Way clear for World Games

IRELAND will definitely be hosting the 1998 World Equestrian Games, following the announcement yesterday of a £2 million deal with Nissan Ireland, the largest single sporting sponsorship agreement in this country.

The announcement came after four weeks of intense negotiations between the organising company, WEG Ireland Limited, and senior Nissan management. Government funding for the project, which was withdrawn in April due to the lack of a major sponsor, is expected to be renewed when the matter is discussed at Cabinet level next Wednesday.

The Minister for Tourism and Trade, Enda Kenny, capped Government spending on the 1998 Games project in April after Bord Failte had paid out £500,000 in operational costs to WEG Ireland during 1994 and 1995. Although no details of the level of Government commitment are available, the Minister stressed yesterday that he was very keen to see the 1998 Games going ahead in Ireland.

Negotiations between WEG Ireland and the Department of Tourism and Trade are continuing prior to the Minister going back to Cabinet next week to ratify a reversal of the Government's no funding stance.

The deal with Nissan nearly foundered late on Thursday evening when the Department requested WEG Ireland to seek the return of a £1.5 million bond lodged with the International Equestrian Federation (FEI). The bond would have become forfeit if Ireland had reneged on its pledge to host the Games.

Discussions on the bond have not yet opened, but the FEI stands to win all round, as the £1.5 million is still payable to the international governing body as a fee for the rights to the Games. A further £3 million will become due in profit sharing if the six discipline event makes a profit when it is staged jointly between Punchestown and the RDS in August 1998.

Nissan management have been negotiating with three key WEG Ireland personnel over the past month. Chief executive John Donlon, Equestrian Federation of Ireland secretary general Michael Stone and James Osborne, who takes over as WEG chairman following the resignation of Conor Crowley, have undertaken detailed examinations of the WEG Ireland budget and the viability of the Games, the proposed level of television coverage and Government support for the project.

The lack of a firm commitment on television coverage had been blamed as the chief reason for WEG Ireland's failure to tie down a title sponsor prior to the Nissan deal. Discussions with RTE have resulted in an agreed 15 hours of live coverage during the two week Games, plus a further 15 hours of recorded highlights.

Nissan management have also been in negotiation with the German television company DSF, which broadcasts throughout Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Austria, and are hoping to come to an arrangement with the European Broadcasting Union for further coverage. Discussions are still ongoing with a number of north American television stations.

A revised budget is to be imposed on the project, which was originally working on a £10.9 million costing. Donlon refused to be drawn on details of the new budget, but stated that it would be more than adequate.

He also stated that further sponsorship was currently being sought. "There are a number of existing leads", he said yesterday, "and I am confident that we will have a very substantial support base."

The resignation of the WEG chairman was announced simultaneously with the sponsorship agreement. Crowley, who is also FEI treasurer and a member of the FEI Bureau, cited a conflict of interests as the reason for his departure.