Here's an article from today's indo. It's mostly an interview with John Delaney.
Delaney ready to use stick as well as carrot
ANY Eircom League club which fails to get a licence when the club licensing appeals committee meets on February 9 could still be lining up for the big kick-off in mid-March but it will be at a massive price.
In the fallout from the first instance committee's decision not to award any of the 22 Eircom League clubs a licence, it has emerged that it will be the Eircom League, and not the appeals committee, which will ultimately decide what to do if clubs aren't awarded licences next month.
There won't be anything the FAI can do about it as the League still holds a degree of autonomy over its affairs and the association has no jurisdiction over how it reacts to the outcome of the licensing process.
But FAI interim chief executive John Delaney does have one stick with which to beat non-compliant clubs - and he has left nobody in any doubt that he will be prepared to use it.
"Given the willingness of the Department of Sport to support the clubs' efforts under the club licensing scheme to date, it would be a huge setback for clubs and the League if this much-needed revenue was not available going forward," he said.
"That funding is at risk to any club that doesn't get a licence. I believe that any club that doesn't get a licence shouldn't be funded. It's as simple as that.
"Maybe this is a reality check for some of the clubs that this is a serious process and needs to be treated seriously. The fact that their funding would be affected in the immediate term by non-compliance is a reality check that everybody has to learn from," said Delaney.
The FAI's licensing manager, Bob Breen, who monitors daily how licensing is being operated in the other 51 UEFA countries, agrees.
"In Scotland they are moving towards a situation where the sanctions would be of a financial nature. Government is supportive of the licensing process and if clubs can't cross the line then their funding is seriously at risk and I think that is a much more significant sanction than whether or not they play in the Premier Division, First Division," said Breen.
The 3m which the Government allocated in 2003 to help clubs meet the costly infrastructure criteria of club licensing has still not been drawn down and will be allocated once the current licensing process is completed.
In addition, clubs will shortly be asked to submit their applications for 2005 funding and there is no doubt that cutting off the grant tap will seriously hinder clubs in trying to carry out the works laid out in their club infrastructure plan.
Two years ago a survey conducted by the FAI's club licensing department revealed that clubs needed to spend over 15m to meet the minimum infrastructure requirements and every dog in the street knows that they can't fund that themselves.
Although most clubs expect to gain their licences on appeal, the 22 failures has sent shock waves through the game and have shown them that they have to take licensing seriously. That, of course, is going to cost money and Delaney believes that it will help concentrate minds on the proposed merger between the FAI and the Eircom League.
One of the carrots being dangled in front of the clubs is a massive improvement in prize money with the FAI pointing to their Setanta Cup as proof of their ability to deliver big bucks. The prize fund for the north-south competition this year will be 350,000, with the winners walking off with a staggering 150,000.
Shelbourne got 18,000 for winning the Eircom League Premier Division this year so that puts things in perspective as does the 15,000 advance that each of the six Setanta Cup competitors received when they signed up.
Delaney firmly believes that the future for the Eircom League clubs is the proposed merger with the FAI and the matter is on the agenda for the association's Board of Management meeting on February 1.
"If the FAI is going to be granting licences then we should have jurisdiction as to what the sanctions and punitive actions should be for clubs who fail to reach the required standard."
Not surprisingly, Delaney is pushing hard to get the merger through so that the FAI can take over the running of the Eircom League in 2006.
'Any club that doesn't get a licence shouldn't be funded. It's as simple as that'
A heads of agreement document has already been drawn up and in recent weeks Delaney has brought the subject before the board of management, national council and divisional associations as well as holding discussions with the Eircom League's interim chairman Paddy McCaul.
"It is important to have a structured development of our game in Ireland. The League at the moment is in limbo. It's neither merged or not merged and issues like licensing shows the need for this matter to be concluded," said Delaney.
With Breen warning that the FAI's financial criteria is benign compared to the other 51 UEFA members and that clubs can expect it to be cranked up further in the coming years, the issue of money will be foremost for all clubs.
So, as the clubs start the search for their missing documents and fill in the blanks on their appeal forms they will have plenty to think about in the days ahead.
Gerry McDermott
Bootroom
I don't like the way Delaney is treating this. He is using the situation to advance this merger, which is completly seperate from the licenceing issue. Also he's being very negative accusing clubs of not taking the process seriously, when most clubs take it very seriously. This type of talk would be better kept untill the appeals have been processed and the clubs which failed on small issues are seperated from the rest.
