FAI accounts show €5m loss for 2019 and debts of €70m

The FAI made a loss of €5.1m in 2019 and had net current liabilities at the end of the year of €69.75m.

The accounts were approved by the FAI board on Sunday and released Monday evening as the 2022 World Cup qualifying draw was concluding and minutes before the media were due to speak to national team manager Stephen Kenny.

The accounts, prepared by new auditors Grant Thornton, have been approved on a going concern basis.

The €5.1m loss was a decrease on the restated €7.7m loss in 2018, while net liabilities for 2019 amounted to €5.7m (a deterioration of €5.1m versus 2018). In the restated 2018 accounts, the net current liabilities came to €58.2m, meaning the 2019 figure has risen by €11.5m.

"These conditions indicate the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt on the Association’s ability to continue as a going concern," read Grant Thornton's report.

As part of the 2019 audit process, the 2018 net asset position of €5.3m has been restated to a net liability position of €532k, a €5.9m reversal in fortunes. The Association said this relates primarily to a change in accounting policy and overstatement of income in the financial year 2014.

The 2019 accounts included a settlement of €462,000 with former CEO John Delaney.

In his chairperson's statement in the accounts, Roy Barrett wrote: "We will recall 2019 as the year Irish football became accountable again and finally found a vision for the future through the pain of the past.

"You will see from the attached financial statements how deep that pain runs throughout our game but I am confident, as we near the end of the most abnormal year in living memory, that Irish football will be the better for all of this."

In January 2020, a €30m rescue package including Government loans and grants of €20m, a UEFA contribution, and the restructuring of bank debt was agreed to save the FAI from potential liquidation.

Since then, the Association has appointed an Audit Risk and Compliance Committee and was granted Covid-relief funds of €11m towards loss of income by the Government and an interest-free $5m loan from Fifa.

The Association says it will continue to work with its key funders to manage its financial commitments, including the €28.5m debt on the Aviva Stadium.

The accounts will be presented to the FAI's members at an AGM on December 29th.

"The Association has completed forecasting under a range of scenarios to assess its ability to continue as a going concern throughout the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and beyond," read the FAI directors' report.

"These forecasts have been prepared on a prudent basis and indicate the Association’s ability to meet its liabilities as they fall due. Having considered the above, the directors have prepared these financial statements on a going concern basis.

"The directors appreciate that due to the ongoing public health crisis, and the impact this is having both globally and within Ireland, together with the inherent difficulties in predicting future cash inflows and expenditure, there remains a material uncertainty in respect of going concern for the foreseeable future."

The accounts also note that the FAI remains under investigation by the Office of Director of Corporate Enforcement.