LAST winter, I was sitting on the terrace of a restaurant where the big wigs of the French FA regularly draw on their expense accounts to lunch in some style.

TV3’s hit show The Apprentice and its spin-off show are the top dogs in the Monday night ratings war against rival RTÉ, drawing more viewers than Pat Kenny’s show The Frontline.

IRISH football fans could be facing a TV blackout in the crucial World Cup play-off with France because of a major financial feud between the FAI and its French counterparts.