There is so much in this article that is grossly misleading that it is hard to know where to start. Here are four key points that jump out on an initial reading. I’ll post more about this later.
Michael Nugent
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What Brendan Menton Wrote:
“More investment in grounds, more development funds, extra youth initiatives, more support for the domestic league in Ireland and extra resources at senior coaching level. That's the result of the television rights package which the FAI has secured with Sky and TV3.”
The Reality:
The FAI signed two separate contracts, not one. Nobody is complaining about the TV3 deal. The only problem is the deal with Sky, whose stated policy is to “use sport as the battering ram for pay television”. And there is no commitment from the FAI that the Sky money will go into any of the areas Brendan Menton has outlined.
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What Brendan Menton Wrote:
“Three weeks ago, if the thousands of young soccer players lining out every week in Ireland, the dedicated and hard-working club members who support the players in all sorts of conditions, and the genuine Irish soccer supporters in this country had been told that these benefits would be available for the future development of the sport, I believe most would have welcomed the opportunity with open arms.”
The Reality:
Long before this deal, we were already all told that these benefits would be available for the future development of the sport. Last December, the FAI announced a major development plan, underpinned by AT LEAST 57m Euro of Government money over the next three years alone, for precisely all of these things. The FAI said at the time (correctly) that this was the major breakthrough that Irish football had needed. The Sky deal adds less than one tenth of this amount to the money available for football development. To pretend that it represents a “dramatic increase in positive nationwide investment” is simply nonsense. It represents an alienation of the people who are already paying for the developments he has listed.
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What Brendan Menton Wrote:
“Most organisations, commercial or not, would be extremely satisfied with an achievement of this magnitude through any deal process.”
The Reality:
Even if it was all about money, which it isn’t, the FAI have sold out for a pittance in international terms. Sky signed a deal last week to pay the English Nationwide League twice as much per live game as they are planning to pay the FAI. And the Nationwide Club chairmen are calling for the resignation of the people who signed that deal, on the basis that it was poor value for money. So the FAI deal is an incredibly poor one if you look it at from a financial viewpoint, as well as a sell-out of priceless footballing values if you look at from the perspective of the beautiful game.
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What Brendan Menton Wrote:
“We fully understand the genuine issues raised by the members of the public, many dedicated and committed soccer supporters, but those descending on Ireland in the past week would be forgiven for perceiving that watching the national team live, four times in two years, is a life-or-death matter.”
The Reality:
This is typical of the patronising and arrogant approach taken by the FAI on this issue. Who exactly are “those descending on Ireland in the past week”? In no other area of democratic life would an entity funded by taxpayers get away with insulting the people who pay their wages like this. As I have said before, this time the FAI has gone too far. And they have clearly not learned the first rule of crisis management: when you are in a hole, stop digging.
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