The FAI Board has approved the association's accounts for 2020.
Among the key figures to be outlined at this month's AGM is a surplus of €1.6million for the financial year of 2020. This compares to a deficit of €5.1million in 2019.
The accounts have been audited by Grant Thornton, and circulated to General Assembly Members ahead of the July 25 AGM.
A series of loans and government grants have helped improve the FAI's financial position, despite the impact of the pandemic. However, the association remains in a net liability position to the tune of €4million
Key points include:
- A surplus of €1.6m was recorded for the financial year 2020, compared with a deficit of €5.1m for 2019.
- This surplus of €1.6m has improved the Association’s balance sheet position. However, the FAI remains in a net liability position of €4m.
- Thanks to support from Government and Sport Ireland, the FAI was able to avail of total COVID-19 Relief Funding of €13.2m, of which €8.2m has been included in turnover for 2020 to offset losses in income due to the pandemic.
- The FAI also received €5.8m in grant funding of football programmes from Sport Ireland in 2020, up from €1.4m in 2019, as part of the overall agreement with Government. From this the Association allocated €1.2m allocated to player development (up from €234,000 in 2019), €1.99m to grassroots football (up from €1.1m in 2019) and, for the first time, the League of Ireland, Women’s National League and Other Competitions were allocated €895,370 of this funding in 2020.
- Net current liabilities have fallen from €69.7m in 2019 to €13.03m in 2020, primarily due to the Association’s bank loan from Bank of Ireland being re-classed from a current liability to a non-current liability in 2020.
- The Association availed of vital loan financing from Bank of Ireland, the Irish Government and FIFA during 2020, with bank and other borrowings increasing from €42.9m in 2019 to €62.4m in 2020.
The FAI's independent chairperson Roy Barrett said, "COVID-19 presented a real financial challenge to the Association in 2020.
"Thanks to the ongoing and welcome support from Government and Sport Ireland we were able to manage our finances in a positive way in 2020, across all levels of our game.
"Together with the support provided to us by FIFA and UEFA and the strict and careful management of our variable costs as we came to terms with the impact of the pandemic, we met this financial challenge head on with our operating costs €5.7m lower in 2020 compared to 2019.
"We are moving to a better place and can look forward to a brighter financial future.
“We are also improving our governance and function as an Association. Our new Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Hill is leading the revitalisation of the Association with real enthusiasm and experience since his arrival in November 2020. The recent EGM saw the introduction of a new Board with six independent directors and the inauguration of our General Assembly, the new structure to lead Irish football as a pillar of our recent Governance reforms.
"We are now populating the committees that will run Irish football, we continue to introduce real reform across the Board and we will shortly present a new strategy for the FAI with a vision to move Irish football forward, something I can assure you the Board is committed to.
“We are very much in a better place now than a year ago but we are still very much aware of the transformation process we are undertaking and I would like to thank all our stakeholders for the contribution they have made on that journey.
"As we see a slow return to normality and the Association reset takes proper hold, we look forward to the FAI being in a position to drive a more sustainable financial future, working both with Government and new and existing sponsorship partners.
"Finally, a word of thanks to all our great staff across the Association for their ongoing work and tireless commitment to Irish football in these most difficult of times.”
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