Update on FAI Deal or No Deal

Edited Tuesday, January 7th

Sources from within the FAI and within Government have poured cold water on the reports in today’s Irish Daily Mail that a financial restructuring deal was close to being signed off.
That may well be the case though with only seven days until UEFA come to Dublin for meetings the need to do so is becoming ever more urgent.
The FAI Board is meeting on Wednesday morning to consider the position with regard to a new independent Chair and three new independent directors who could be seen as the key to untangling the knot that is currently preventing more meaningful discussion between a number of the parties.
Original Story

The Irish Daily Mail is reporting this morning that the FAI is close to finalising a financial restructuring that will secure its long term future.

It says that a deal has been secured between the FAI, its bankers the Bank of Ireland, the Government and UEFA.

There are no firm details on the amounts in question or the terms of how the money will be made available to enable the Association to keep trading.

It is likely however that the money will be available on a commercial basis from the bank with the Government acting as guarantor and UEFA agreeing to a long term scheme whereby the money which has been advanced to date, ahead of schedule, will be clawed back over a longer-term.

The collateral which will act in the same way as bricks and mortar in a mortgage will be based on the business plan created by Paul Cooke working with Grant Thornton over the past six months.

This was presented, in confidence, to Ministers Shane Ross and Brendan Griffin last month. While it was dismissed in the immediate aftermath, it appears now as if a cooler reflection period over Christmas has put it in a different light.

If the deal is finalised this week it will include confirmation that the Republic of Ireland will remain in good standing with UEFA and remove any shadow over our international and club team’s participation in UEFA competition.

UEFA will be in Dublin for meetings with the Government this day next week and it could be that the detail of the deal will be revealed after that.

It also means that the Directors will have the spectre of reckless trading removed and free up the appointment of new independent directors and a CEO.

It also raises the prospect of Paul Cooke potentially turning his voluntary and temporary position of Executive Lead into that of a longer-term CEO.

The Irish Daily Mail is a long term partner of the FAI having sponsored the FAI Cup since 2015 and then rolling that into its online service Extra.ie for the 2019 renewal.