The FAI has established a steering group which will meet daily to assess the impact of the CoronaVirus on Irish football.
The first meeting took place yesterday with representatives of the National League Executive Committee and the Professional Footballer’s Association of Ireland.
This is the busiest time of the year in the domestic game with seventeen rounds of matches scheduled to take place in the SSE Airtricity Premier League and First Division between now and the middle of June.
The Women’s National League is also scheduled to kick off tomorrow across the country and three rounds of fixtures are down to be played across three weeks before a break over the Easter period.
Underage Leagues continue to be played as well.
The steering group has been established to examine the potential impact of a sporting shutdown.
The FAI will coordinate the group and will present its findings to government and UEFA in relation to the financial implications for SSE Airtricity League clubs and players along with proposals on how best the Irish football industry can be protected.
“Today’s meeting was a productive one and allowed us all to focus on the situation facing our National League clubs and players,” said an FAI spokesperson.
“We discussed at length our serious concerns around Covid-19 and began to develop a contingency plan to help our clubs during this potentially difficult time.”
“We are currently gathering all financial data and working with the clubs and the players on the financial implications they face. Once we have a true understanding of this, we will be approaching Government and UEFA on behalf of the clubs to seek their support.”
“The FAI is fully supportive of government policy in relation to mass gatherings and sporting events and will take its lead from the Department of Health.”
A recent UEFA report into the club scene across the whole of Europe showed that League of Ireland clubs relied on ticket sales for 28 per cent of their income.
42 per cent of income comes from sponsorship and commercial partnerships; 16 per cent from UEFA; 13 per cent from ‘other’ revenue and six per cent from transfer fees.
North of the border the highest amount is 35 per cent from ‘other’ revenue which is more likely to be from state funding. 24 per cent comes from UEFA revenues with 21 per cent from sponsorship and commercial; 19 per cent from gate receipts and five per cent from transfers.
Gate receipts in England account for 13 per cent and in Scotland for 43 per cent of revenues.
It seems inevitable that there will be a shutdown of community activities including sport. It could come as soon as this weekend.
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Image Credit: Sport for Business
