Telecom Eireann won the sponsorship deal with the FAI against competition from another telecoms company, understood to be Esat Digifone, the ESB, and an Irish drinks company.

The desire of Telecom Eireann to sponsor the National League as well as the new arena and the Irish teams meant it won out over competitors interested in sponsoring only the teams or the stadium.

The final details of the contract were being worked on up to Tuesday according to sources, and the sticking points during the reportedly tough negotiations were details concerning the handing over of the money and exactly how much benefit Telecom Eireann - or Eircom as it will soon be called - would get from the sponsorship.

The company is to get 20 per cent of the "signage" or sign space around the pitch of the proposed arena during international fixtures and is to have its name on the stadium's roof.

The £18 million will be paid on a phased basis over 10 years, though it will be "front ended". The figure is broken down into £11 million towards the stadium, £6 million towards the Irish team, and £1 million towards the National League. In the event of the construction of the stadium not going ahead any stadium-related funds already advanced are to be repaid. However, the sponsorship of the national teams and the National League will still go ahead.

For Telecom, which is engaged in the largest re-branding process yet by an Irish company, the deal dovetails perfectly with its strategy. It gives prominence to the company's name at home and abroad at a time when it is preparing for increased competition at home and developing business abroad, especially in Britain.

It is generally felt that Opel, which sponsored the Irish squad for the past 14 years, did very well from its deal which was believed to be worth approximately £300,000 a year to the FAI. The Telecom deal in relation to the international squad is worth £6 million over 10 years, or £600,000 a year.

A survey carried out by Amarach, an Irish research firm, found that 81 per cent of the public, when prompted, knew who the sponsors of the Irish soccer squad were. The corresponding figure for the All-Ireland football (Bank of Ireland) and hurling (Guinness) championships was 74 per cent. Asked if the sponsorship made the respondent feel "closer" to the sponsoring company, 32 per cent felt it did in relation to the soccer sponsorship, while 27 per cent did in relation to GAA sponsorship.

Telecom is to officially launch its new name, Eircom, next September. Already it has included the name on new telephone directories and has put its new colours - blue, white and orange - on its vans. The company will spend £6.5 million on the re-branding exercise, most of it in this financial year. The £18 million, 10-year sponsorship deal it has signed with the FAI is in addition to the £2.5 million a year it currently spends on sponsorship.