Minister Shane Ross has said the League of Ireland is in danger of collapse should the FAI go under. The minister was speaking at the Oireactas Sports Committee today where he was updating his colleagues on the latest from the FAI's ongoing financial difficulties.
The FAI met Ross at Leinster House on Monday night where Ross claims they requested a €18 million bailout deal from the government. The request was denied.
"My guess is if the FAI goes, the League of Ireland goes the same way. I think that is absolutely inevitable."
Minister Shane Ross has warned the League of Ireland could collapse alongside the FAI in the current crisis. pic.twitter.com/FysW3VAPtr— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) December 18, 2019
However, worryingly for League of Ireland fans, Ross claimed that the domestic league is in danger of falling victim to the controversy. He said:
When we met with the FAI on Monday night Grant Thornton were there as well. They had done some work on the consequences of examinership. I don't know how far they've gone but I asked them if they'd share it with us and they said that they will share it with us in the next week or so.
My guess is if the FAI goes, the League of Ireland goes the same way. I think that's absolutely inevitable. But it's something that we would have on the agenda for our meeting with Uefa as well because it would have implications for them too.
We are obviously going to do some serious analysis of the consequences of examinership and liquidation, but that is what we want to avoid.
Meanwhile, the minister also revealed that he is meeting the IRFU tomorrow to discuss the future of the Aviva Stadium, given the FAI are struggling to keep up with their repayments on the venue.
The FAI were due to attend today's meeting before declining the invitation earlier this week. Earlier this month it was revealed that the FAI had net liabilities of €55 million; however Minister of State Brendan told the committee today that the FAI have liabilities of €62 million.
