Soccer

Football Association of Ireland reduces its legacy debt by €7.7m

Accounts for 2023 show a surplus of €3.5m with Association looking at strategy to deal with long-term debt

The FAI reduced its legacy debt by €7.7 million to €43.2 million in 2023. Photograph: Inpho
The FAI reduced its legacy debt by €7.7 million to €43.2 million in 2023. Photograph: Inpho
Mary Hannigan
Mon Aug 26 2024 - 14:47

Ahead of next month’s annual general meeting, the Football Association of Ireland has published its accounts for 2023 and they show that its debts have been reduced by €7.7 million to €43.2 million. While its cash balance is down significantly – from €10.9 million in 2022 to €1.6 million – the bulk of that difference was used to reduce a legacy debt that had stood at €50.9 million.

For the second year running a surplus of €3.5 million has been recorded, while turnover is up from €54 million to €62.3 million, with the value of the Association’s net assets increasing from €6.2 million to €9.7 million.

A big driver behind the improved figures was match-related income, which more than doubled from €9.1 million in 2022 to €18.6 million. The men’s team had six home fixtures in 2023, with five of them – Latvia, France, Gibraltar, Netherlands and Greece – attracting crowds of more than 40,000. Season ticket sales of over 24,000 for the men’s team were also a boon, as was the women’s team making their first appearance at the Aviva Stadium, a crowd of 35,944 attending their Nations League game against Northern Ireland last September.

Commercial revenues were also up, from €15.6 million to €20.8 million, aided by sponsorship deals and the continuing centralised media rights agreement with Uefa.

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The Association hailed the improved accounts, saying that it has “continued to prudently manage its financial position in order to sustainably invest in the wider football community, reduce financial risk, while managing the costs associated with legacy debt issues”.

However, that sharp reduction in its cash reserves means that “consideration is now being given to the Association’s longer term debt strategy”.

“A strong 2023 has reinforced the steady improvement of the Association’s financial situation,” said FAI interim CEO David Courell. “While making progress, we are acutely conscious that we are only part way through the journey of clearing our legacy debt.

“We need to balance the requirement of servicing and paying down this debt whilst continuing to invest in developing the game and helping it to achieve its full potential. As a not-for-profit organisation it is incumbent on us to be increasingly vigilant in our financial management, ensuring we maximise each and every euro of investment that we put back into the game.”

Mary Hannigan

Mary Hannigan

Mary Hannigan is a sports writer with The Irish Times