Eircom League clubs facing €1m outstanding tax bill, say FAI

THE outstanding tax bill for eircom League clubs is about €1 million — down from a high of almost two-and-a-half times that amount.

FAI chief executive John Delaney revealed the figures in Cyprus

yesterday and stressed that clubs which do not meet strict financial regulations in future could face sanctions ranging from fines and deduction of points to relegation.

“We have to treat it as strongly as that,” he said. “There’s no point in 21 clubs adhering and one not. Clubs are in better health financially than they were. I’m not saying that’s where we want them to be because we want to get them to a better state.”

Delaney believes that the introduction of mandatory wage control — by which clubs will only be allowed to spend 65% of turnover on wages — will be significant in keeping finances under control.

“I know the balance sheets for the clubs and they have improved significantly,” said the FAI boss.

“And it’s no longer about the rule book — this is about participation contracts. Next year it will be best practice, and the following year it will be mandatory that you can only spend 65% of turnover on wages. It means the rest has to go to club administration, youth development and infrastructure. When Genesis came in a year and half ago, they said that turnover of clubs was €15m and expenditure was €18m. That won’t happen again.”

Delaney was speaking at a media briefing on the agreed merger of the eircom League and the FAI which takes another step forward today with the publication of advertisements for a 22nd club to replace Dublin City in the new league.

The composition of the top two divisions for next season will be known following the report of the Independent Assessment Group on December 11, which Delaney described as “a landmark date” for the domestic game.

The FAI are also about to embark on the interview process for the posts of eircom League director and national promotions officer, and plan to hire a marketing agency to promote the league. Delaney said that the FAI would also appoint a full time compliance auditor to make sure that clubs meet their financial obligations.

Delaney said that the average attendance for eircom League games is roughly 12,000 on any given weekend.

“I don’t think it’s unattainable for that to increase to 20,000 over a number of years,” he said, citing a “huge latent interest in the game” as evidenced by last year’s television viewing figures and attendance at the Cork-Derry league decider at Turner’s Cross, as well as the 25,000 who turned up for the FAI Cup final between Cork and Drogheda.

Delaney appeared not to be unduly put out by Niall Quinn’s campaign to bring more Irish supporters to Sunderland, but in what was presumably a reference to the club’s controlling Drumaville consortium, suggested that wealthy Irish sports fans should look to invest in domestic football first.

“Everyone can support an English team or Celtic, which most of us support I presume, but our biggest thing is to get more people to the grounds for our games,” he said. “We all know that thousands travel to Man United and Arsenal and Liverpool — you’ve only got to be in Dublin Airport to see that. What’s important to us in the broader context is that we have to treat the game here seriously to get the investment into the game from the outside.

“I want the multi-millionaires who live in Ireland investing in the clubs in Ireland as opposed to investing in clubs in England.”