The Sunday Independent carried an interesting story over the weekend about an impending deal for the FAI to restructure their financial arrangements and shave no less that €10 million off the debt associated with the redevelopment of the Aviva Stadium.
The suggestion is that a deal has already been agreed and will be announced today or tomorrow. It will likely see the departure of Danske Bank as the lead banking partner and opens up the prospect of a new more involved relationship between a new banking partner and the overall sport.
Soccer represents the second largest number of individual club unites in Irish sport, all of whom manage their own finances and which would equate to a substantial number of small to medium size enterprises across the country.
With the backing of UEFA that has been clearly evident throughout the last year, the debt burden of the Aviva Stadium is manageable and the kind of secured commercial loan that will increasingly be sought in 2014 as banks recover their journey from embarrassment at what happened in 2007 to engagement in how the next decade will play out.
The FAI has not had an involved banking partner for a number of years and this could open up a number of other opportunities.
It is a good finish to a year that started badly but which has been lifted by a huge degree with the renewed excitement surrounding the appointment of Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane to the management dugout.
Sport for Business will update this story as news emerges of how the new relationship is likely to develop in 2014.
