Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 10 April 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport

Engagement with the Football Association of Ireland

Mr. John Delaney:

I will take the FIFA query. The current FIFA president is Gianni Infantino. FIFA has changed remarkably in his period there. This is well accepted. I work closely with the UEFA president, Aleksander Ceferin, and he has brought UEFA forward incredibly well over the past number of years. They are two parent bodies of the FAI. UEFA is a significant funder of the FAI and FIFA's revenues are increasing with the association. I could not speak higher of how UEFA is run under the stewardship of its current president. There is no doubt that FIFA has come a remarkable distance. The recent vote for the World Cup was transparent and open. When the "United" bid won, it was put up on the screens. I could not but commend both organisations on how they are run. There are key funding negotiations to come into the future with regard to our centralised television deals. I also hope that UEFA will run a television channel on social media for domestic leagues where the League of Ireland could well get a global audience. This is very important to the association and to me coming from a League of Ireland background. We work very closely with both bodies the Senator has mentioned. They are significant funders but they are also a significant resource support to the FAI. They are two very well run organisations.

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