The Tennis Ireland CEO position had been vacant for more than one year, after the previous chief executive left the NGB when he discovered and then highlighted false payments approved by certain board members for work which never happened.

Let’s dig into the numbers to demonstrate this astonishing surge for an organisation that structures the Guinness Six Nations Championship, Autumn International Series, as well as Women’s Rugby and U20s internationals.

The newest and fastest growing areas for opportunity, outside of the traditional sponsorship segments, come through sustainability and the environment, an area of strength for Munster Rugby, as reported in The Pitch in recent months.

In a detailed statement to The Pitch, the Department of Sport denied that there was bias in favour of rugby and GAA when it came to funding, stating that “no money is ring-fenced for any particular sport”.

The thrill of representing their local sides will be diluted somewhat for their parents, who will pay an average of €350 — or as high as €400 — to the league club in registration costs and other fees.

 The move from Nyon before Christmas was designed to undermine and discredit the bid, and came exactly one month after the Irish Government announced - last November - a €135m draft support package, to cover the hosting of the tournament in this country.

If there was an index on the stock price for the Irish sports business sector, 2022 would present a sporting ISEQ of unpredictable volatility and trend-changing movements

The amended EU Act will be approved by the European Commission in 2023 and will force the banning of plastics used in up to 2,500 artificial pitches across the country, and tens of thousands of surfaces in the EU.

From Thursday until the early New Year, 90,000 fans will converge on the most compelling and barmiest tournament on the sporting calendar – the PDC World Darts Championship

His FedEx Cup win (doing the same in Europe by winning the DP World’s Race to Dubai), 10 Top 10 finishes at 16 PGA Tour events – second at The Masters - and $8.6m in prize money was surely enough to win PIP’s $15m winner’s purse – ahead of an uncompetitive Tiger.