The €8m Euro qualification stake

THE FAI may accrue less than €100,000 for television rights for the Republic’s Euro 2012 play off with Estonia — but there’s an €8m booty awaiting the Association if Giovanni Trapattoni’s men secure qualification for next year’s finals.

The benefits of making our first major football finals in a decade are at least eight times greater than the best television rights the FAI could have negotiated — approximately €1.2m against Turkey — in the play-offs.

And the spin-offs don’t end there. Index-lined sponsorship deals with the likes of ‘3’ and Umbro, new commercial partnerships, lucrative home friendlies and better rankings for future tournaments would all flow from qualifying for Poland and Ukraine in 2012. Early estimates yesterday indicated that qualification would boost FAI coffers by between €15-€20m.