Roy Barrett and Jonathan Hill, chairman and CEO of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), are all-in on a government plan to support the sport through an increase in the betting tax.
At a recent press conference reported by the Irish Independent, Barrett and Hill said the €863 million (US$945 million), 15-year infrastructure plan is a “strong example” of the Irish government’s commitment to a level playing field in sports.
The FAI hit a crisis in 2019, when details of mismanaged finances came to light. The organization was in debt to the tune of €55 million. At the time, Irish Minister for Sport Shane Ross said the FAI must undergo “a total clean-out” and demonstrate a willingness to reform before the government would offer additional support.
Ross said the organization had created a financial “black hole” that compelled the government to redirect €2.9 million in funding directly to grassroots groups.
The Guardian called the sport “anemic” and a “victim of chronic underfunding and competition from other sports.” The current leadership looked forward to better times. “What happened prior to 2019 will never happen again,” Hill said. “This is a new debate and conversation we’re going to have with the government.
“We’ve started discussions already with the Department of Sport and Sport Ireland,” he continued. “They have been very positive. They are supportive of any proposal that brings the wider debate of funding sport to the table.” He agreed with the government’s previous intervention in FAI operations. “I absolutely believe it was the right thing for government to step in and stabilize the organization. … But if you look over the last 20 years and however things were managed and whatever the perceptions were, the reality is as a sport and a leading sport, football was grossly underinvested in compared to the other main sports.”
The executives say the multimillion-dollar infrastructure plan “should not be hindered” by the group’s troubled past.
In 2022, Ireland amended its betting laws to establish the Gambling Regulatory Authority as well as a “social impact fund.” According to SBC News, the terms of a levy to support sports have not been determined.
Barrett supports a levy increase of 2 percent to 3 percent so the “wealth can be spread” more evenly across football and other sports in the country.
