LEAGUE OF IRELAND LAUNCH:THERE MAY well be trouble ahead, if last year is anything to go by, but it was all smiles at the launch of 2009 League of Ireland season in Tallaght yesterday where a 26 per cent rise in prize money was cited as evidence that FAI control is paying dividends for the senior game.
Next year’s champions will receive €280,000 from the association, a dramatic improvement on the sort of sums handed out a few years back and FAI chief executive John Delaney insisted “to increase the prize money like that in these times is a good achievement for the organisation”.
In total, he said, the prize fund for the league and its related competitions will hit the €1 million mark when a new sponsor for the league cup is named during the weeks ahead. This, he said, was a substantial rise on last year when Eircom’s €400,000 provided the backbone of the league’s revenue.
On the media front, Delaney and his fellow officials hailed the fact that MNS will again be screened at 8pm on Monday nights despite having performed disappointingly in the slot last season. RTÉ have also indicated it will broadcast an additional five live games each year for the next five years, so that by 2013 it will be showing 33 matches, almost one every week of the season.
On the downside, however, RTÉ radio’s Friday night programme on long wave which traditionally provided excellent coverage of the night’s games, including live commentary from one, appears to have been a victim of the budgetary situation out at Montrose.
“I’m due to met with RTÉ over the next week or so, as I do on a regular basis to discuss a whole range of issues,” said Delaney, “and I’ll continue to raise it [the issue of radio coverage] but we’re delighted that we will have MNS again, while I think as the season goes on you’ll see Newstalk stepping in and covering some of the games live.”
The mood amongst the clubs is cautious regarding the new season with many finding sponsorship harder to get just as the league’s financial restrictions are being tightened in the hope that the many problems encountered last year might be avoided.
League director Fran Gavin described the difficulties experienced around the country in 2008 as a “painful but necessary correction”, but insisted the reduction in the level of revenue being paid to players currently being achieved would yield major benefits as clubs become better able to invest in youth team structures, facilities and the like.
“Short term pain,” he said, “will translate into long-term gain and we must take a long-term view.”
Some licensing issues still have to be addressed at a handful clubs around the country with Cork City due to have filed new accounts by last night and Dundalk awaiting a verdict by Uefa on the quality of their new artificial pitch, but Delaney expressed confidence that there would not be any last-minute hiccups with the process.
Uefa general secretary David Taylor, meanwhile, has said that because of ongoing delays Uefa – rather than the local organising committee – will make the final decision on which cities in Poland and Ukraine can host games in the 2012 European Championships.
“There are problems and we’ve never hidden from that in terms of the issues around infrastructure in the countries, accommodation, transport and the need to complete stadium projects,” he said at yesterday’s launch.
“I’m there next week in Poland for the week looking at the cities. In May of this year we will decide which will be the host city venues. And the fact that Uefa are taking that decision themselves this time is a reflection of our concerns.
“We will need to make the decision in terms of the whole package. Not just which city has a nice stadium, more about the hotels, transport, accommodation, airports. We need to get the supporters there and back.”
Taylor also said that he would like to see a League of Ireland -style salary cap introduced across Europe and he confirmed that talks are ongoing with representatives of clubs and players about how it might work.
