A wide-ranging appraisal of the League of Ireland has concluded that an over-reliance on benefactors needs to be tackled if the game here is ever to be sustainable, with new measures set to be implemented for 2010.
The Irish Independent has seen the findings of the survey carried out by the league's Review Group, which canvassed club officials, players, managers, referees, media and members of associations and interest groups around the country.
The 55-page document largely focuses on figures from 2008 to measure the behaviour of clubs and garner feedback under the headings of Governance, Competitions, Operations, Communications and Finance.
conclusion
Central to the conclusion is the short-sighted behaviour of certain clubs, which has proved troublesome for the majority, with the perilous existence of the culprits an obstacle to long-term security -- particularly in the current economic climate, which has affected many of those who have been bankrolling leading sides.
Unsurprisingly, the review also concluded that clubs were spending far too much of their money on player wages. Last year, Premier Division total salary costs made up 79pc of a record total income figure of €27m.
Overall, corporate and private sponsorship (CPS) was responsible for 27pc of total income in 2008, with match-day income at 20pc. At the bigger clubs, the reliance on directors and benefactors is far larger.
"Corporate and private sponsorship is the single largest area of income for LOI clubs," states the review, the findings of which will go before the FAI board.
"This effectively means that club directors and owners are keeping the clubs afloat from a financial perspective.
"Total income is currently sufficient to cover total salary costs. It is insufficient to cover total expenditure, resulting in clubs suffering year-on-year losses. More worryingly, football-specific income is not sufficient to cover total salaries.
"The lack of comparative expenditure in areas such as youth development, infrastructure, advertising, marketing and promotions represents an imbalance in investment priorities which should be addressed by each club's leadership."
It is hoped that changes to legislation for 2010 will encourage league members to build a proper foundation. Amendments to the Salary Cost Protocol, which currently decrees that player wages should only comprise 65pc of turnover, are being trumpeted as a solution.
"It was common practice here (and, indeed, still is around Europe) for directors/benefactors/investors to put money into the clubs in the form of a 'soft' interest-free loan to cover losses," says the review.
income
"This is no longer allowable under the rules of the Salary Cost Protocol as any CPS provided to the club during the year, must be included in the club's audited financial statements as income."
Management and coaching salaries will also be included in the 65pc next year, while it is proposed that clubs be required to invest 10pc of turnover in capital infrastructure on an annual basis.
The review process also proposes that the FAI assists clubs with the implementation of performance-related pay scales.
While there is general agreement that the SCP has improved transparency since the FAI took over the running of the league at the beginning of 2007, dissatisfaction remains with the manner in which clubs have escaped punishment for breaching rules and dragging the reputation of the game here into the gutter.
"The need for the FAI to take (and be seen to take) strong, swift and decisive action...was a common refrain at each stakeholder meeting," says the review.
Derry City were recently expelled from the league due to operating dual contracts, but the feeling among clubs is that other big names need to be punished for their misdemeanours.
Without naming specific teams, the review defends the FAI for allowing Cork City -- until now at least -- their repeated indiscretions, although there is a pointed reference to clubs who have fallen foul of the taxman in the recent past.
"There is no underestimating the damage that is done each time a club is a party to legal proceedings involving Revenue or any other creditor," it says.
"The impact of these unfortunate occurrences undermines the integrity of the competitions, weakens the credibility of the regulatory processes and perhaps, most damaging of all; provides further grounds on which to continue some of the 'disconnect' between participant clubs and the rest of the football family."
However, the review responds to calls for strong action by saying: "Problems arise in applying sanctions unilaterally because every case is unique and, ultimately, relegation because of non-compliance affairs affects the fans and players at the club, which parties are unlikely to have had little or no control over the financial decisions."
Appraisal
Instead, the review merely proposes a more rigorous appraisal, including a second, hard monitoring date (as opposed to just one real deadline) for the SCP in 2011, and that, with regard to due process, "a club may be required to lodge a month's wages with FAI as a bond to protect football creditors and to protect the credibility of the competition."
Extending sanctions to points deductions and relegation are recommended if a "pattern of transgressions can be shown to result from reckless financial behaviour on the part of directors."
Elsewhere, the devising of an Elite Referees Group to monitor match officials is put forward, while the feedback on communications concludes with a wishlist that may be slightly unrealistic; particularly with respect to the weekly 'Monday Night Soccer' highlights show produced by RTE.
In addition to seeking greater coverage of the First Division on the show, it is suggested that "producers of MNS should be advised that the more 'gimmicky' segments of the programme are a source of some resentment when profiles of clubs, managers and players might serve better the promotional needs of the game."
- Daniel McDonnell
Irish Independent
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