Fresh questions over Fifa-FAI deal

Fresh questions have been raised about the long-term nature of the €5 million loan agreement world soccer body Fifa struck with the Football Association of Ireland in early 2010.

Fifa has told the Irish Examiner that it reclassified the no interest loan in its Financial Report in 2012 – the year after it wrote down the value of the loan by €1m to €4m – from a “short-term” loan to a “financial asset”.

A spokesman for Fifa in Zurich said this was done to reflect the “long-term nature” of the loan on its books and was done in accordance with accounting standards to show the nature of the loan.