Clubs back Limerick in stand-off with FAI

AIRTRICITY League of Ireland clubs have rallied behind Limerick in their battle with the FAI over the proposed friendly game against Barcelona at Thomond Park on July 31.

At a scheduled meeting in Dublin ahead of last night’s FAI Cup draw, the 19 clubs in attendance expressed support for Limerick while Jackman Park officials, again backed by the other clubs, made a demand to see the third-party commercial agreement which the FAI has said prevents it from sanctioning the Barcelona game. According to sources at the meeting, it appeared that none of the clubs had previously been aware of the existence of such an agreement. It remains to be seen if the current row impacts on how the clubs will vote, in 10 days’ time, on whether to extend the league’s merger with the FAI beyond 2011.

Earlier yesterday, Limerick Chairman Pat O’ Sullivan was quoted as saying that he would not take the FAI decision “lying down”, as the club’s legal advisors continued to study the remarks made on the issue by FAI boss John Delaney in a radio interview on Sunday.

But last night the FAI reiterated that the game would not go ahead, again cast doubts on Barcelona’s commitment to the fixture and insisted that their decision to refuse its sanction was made “for the good of the game.”

Among the points the Association made in a lengthy statement were the following:

1 “The FAI is not in the business of profiteering from such games. Any profit the FAI does generate is delivered straight back into the development of the game. One of the reasons why we have entered into an arrangement with a commercial partner in relation to friendly games is to protect and maximise the value of our rights, to benefit the game as a whole. If games were to be organised outside of this arrangement, profit made by any agent would be lost to the game.

2 “Limerick FC are portraying as a certainty that with FAI permission the (Barcelona) game would come to Limerick. We are aware that even with FAI permission (which in any case, we are unable to grant), FC Barcelona has not made any decision to come to Limerick. We have spoken to high level officials at the club who have confirmed this and we also know that international match agents are offering Barcelona to other clubs on the same date, July 31.

3 “Under the participation agreement which all clubs signed, the FAI is entitled to enter commercial agreements which it sees beneficial to the game. The game Limerick FC have referred to would benefit just one club. The FAI is obliged to operate in the interests of the whole league.

4 “It has been suggested that the FAI is not happy to grant friendly games to Airticity League clubs. This is not true. In recent times alone, we have granted permission to Celtic, Newcastle, Liverpool, Wolves, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Hull City and Ipswich Town to play clubs and we will continue to do so.”

In a further twist to the saga, the FAI’s Head of Communications Peter Sherrard had told media yesterday afternoon that the FAI were contractually prevented from sanctioning club’s friendly games in stadia with a capacity in excess of 20,000. However, in last night’s statement, this figure was corrected to 15,000 with sources in Limerick FC responding that no such restriction had ever been made known to them, either verbally or in writing, by the Association.

In a statement last night, the club also argued that Barcelona were entitled to negotiate with other parties since Limerick were not in a position to sign their heads of agreement contract with the Catalans because of the FAI’s refusal to sanction the game. “Had the game been sanctioned, the club would have been in the position to sign this contract last week and thus negate the need for Barcelona to look at alternative arrangements,” they said.

Limerick also pointed to what they described as a contradiction between, on the one hand, the FAI’s assertion that only one club would benefit from the Barca game and their subsequent declaration that they have been happy to grant permission for a range of clubs from outside Ireland to play friendlies against domestic opposition.

“These stated friendly matches have benefited fellow league members individually,” said the club. “Limerick FC fully support our fellow league clubs’ right to raise much needed income in this manner and call on the FAI to clarify this point to ensure clubs can continue to benefit financially from such games.”

Also yesterday, the FAI sought to make clear that exempt from the third-party agreement they’ve signed up to are games in aid of charity, such as Sunderland’s visit to Thomond in July, and games organised directly by the Association, as in the Manchester United game due to take place at the Aviva Stadium the following month.

Meanwhile, it’s believed that Platinum One, the company which brought Real Madrid to Tallaght last year, have drawn up plans to bring them back to Ireland this summer for training camp and game against Athlone Town at Lissywoolen.