Stadium would boost economy

FAI CEO Fran Rooney yesterday said he believed a major UEFA final in Dublin would be worth up to €50m to the economy.

Mr Rooney welcomed the suggestion from UEFA that they would be well disposed to playing the final of the Champions’ League or the UEFA Cup in Lansdowne when the new stadium there is built.

“The prospect of hosting a major European final could provide a tremendous showcase for the city and the country. From a football perspective the attraction of a major final is mouth-watering but there are far wider benefits for the game and the country.” His comments were made in the aftermath of a visit by a delegation from the FAI and UEFA to the Sports Minister John O’Donoghue. The delegation included UEFA Vice President Per Ravn Omdal, UEFA Chief Executive Lars-Christer Olsson, the FAI’s President Milo Corcoran and Mr Rooney.

The UEFA delegates told Minister O’Donoghue they were very encouraged by the decision of the Government to support a new national stadium. They explained that while the requirement for tournament finals vary, the minimum capacity requirements for a Champions’ League final is a 50,000-seater arena which the plans for the new National stadium incorporate.

Mr Rooney said: “the potential payback in tourism revenues of such a major event is immense.”

He said the UEFA delegation were very impressed with the plan for Lansdowne Road and that such favourable reaction from UEFA supported the Minister’s decision to push ahead with the new Stadium.

It is planned that work on re-building the stadium will begin in 2006. Planning permission will have to be sought before the project is put out to tender and it is highly likely that objections from residents in the area will have to be dealt with before then.