FAI sponsorship: Brian Kerr claimed yesterday the FAI's technical development plan, which is to be unveiled in the next month, has the potential to dramatically improve Ireland's fortunes on the international stage.

Speaking at the official announcement of eircom's new sponsorship deal with the FAI, the Ireland manager insisted the performance of the national senior team should be just one measure of the health of the game here. He said the aim is that future generations of the country's elite players would be better equipped to cope with the varied demands of the game.

"France didn't get where they are today just by spending money on the senior team," he said. "They got there by developing the game at all levels, by developing talent from an early stage, and what they've shown is that if you don't have a broad base of players at the bottom you're not going to have them at the top."

Kerr said the emergence of nations like Slovenia and Latvia made the adoption of a long-term strategy here for the development of the game all the more crucial if Ireland is to maintain and improve its present standing.

The required blueprint for the future, he maintains, is contained in the technical plan, which is the subject of budgetary negotiations within Merrion Square.

He went on to add that some important progress has already been made, citing the expansion of the national team's technical staff, the rapidly growing number of qualified coaches within the game and the increasingly thorough nature of its scouting structures.

"The day has gone when you had to be from Dublin, Cork or maybe Limerick before you had any chance of gaining representative honours at schoolboy level," he said in relation to this last point. "The selection process now is fair, it's seen to be fair and the search goes on across the country to uncover the gems."

His attempts at experimentation with the senior side have, he claimed, been ridiculed by sections of the media, as was his decision, seen by some to undermine his successors, to retain an input into underage sides. But, he said, the work to develop the ability of senior players to play within and cope with formations other than 4-4-2 would continue, while he sees his close involvement with the association's other team managers as a natural part of the integrated approach he wants to develop.

Speaking on behalf of eircom, Cathal Magee, managing director of the company's retail division, said in addition to the cash provided for under the terms of the new deal his organisation would broaden the nature of its backing of the game here generally.

"We want to be supporters of Irish football rather than just sponsors of the national team."

He added the company remains committed to the National League. "The eircom League can and must thrive," he said. "We look forward to playing our part in its regeneration."

The total value of the new deal itself, details of which were first reported in The Irish Times last December, is €7 million over five years, although this excludes performance-related bonuses which are linked to the fortunes of the national team. The company has also committed itself to providing significant marketing support for the game as well as some technical and communications services to the association.

In return, it is to be provided with substantially improved corporate hospitality facilities at matches, additional tickets for the games and greater access to senior players and their manager for promotional purposes.

At least two players, Robbie Keane and Damien Duff, are excluded from this arrangement under which players receive increased match fees in return for their wider co-operation with the association's commercial ventures. Merrion Square officials are, however, hoping to strike deals with them during the coming months.

The payment for the current year is believed to be in the region of €1.2 million, up from about €950,000 received under the terms of the old arrangement for 2003. Around a third of that figure went to the league, the sponsorship of which effectively formed a separate deal.

That arrangement has ended and FAI chief executive Fran Rooney said yesterday the outcome of talks in progress over the future administration of the league would be a factor when it comes to determining how much it receives.