BRAND ON THE RUN
Euros bid throws harsh spotlight on FAI’s continuing failure to land a main sponsor
VThe Covid coast is clearing and companies are prepared to invest in sport
ANITY project or a victory instead.march? Inevitably, there has been much debate around the FAI’s flip from co-hosting the 2030 World Cup to chasing Euro 2028 Yet, few observers were taken aback at the switch by the FA’s of Ireland and the four home nations, as it always makes sense in any race to back a horse with a chance, rather than punt on an also-ran.
And the 2030 World Cup race was very much that, a beaten docket.
Trying to convince each of FIFA’s 211 member nations that football should be coming home was always going to be a hard sell. The early signals were not positive. For one, England isn’t everyone’s cup of tea as a World Cup host.
In contrast, it will be a lot easier to persuade UEFA’s 17-person ExCo, headed by President Aleksander Ceferin. Even more so, after encouragement from Ceferin’s ranks to change saddles.
While some questioned the ethics of the FAI in bidding for the Euro 2028 finals when there are many bonfires blazing in the sport, Jonathan Hill, the FAI CEO, robustly defended the Association’s goal. ‘It’s right to be part of our ambition,’ he said.
The Euros are big business with UEFA projected to make a profit in excess of €1bn from the 2024 finals in Germany where competing teams can expect to carve up €400m in prize money.
Market experts estimate the economic benefits for Ireland as cohosts at €150m to €200m. There’s a lot at stake, both to qualify, and to stage games.
For the FAI, this is likely to be third time lucky where the Euros are concerned.
The bid to co-host Euro 2008 with Scotland was hampered by a lack of clear planning and confirmed venues on this side of the Irish Sea.
For all talk of the ‘Bertie Bowl’, or the keys to ‘Croker’, there wasn’t enough bricks and mortar in place to buttress the bid, which was eclipsed by Austria-Switzerland.
It was a painful lesson and when the FAI put their heads above the parapet for the pan-Euro 2020 finals, they made sure they had a stadium in place to meet requirements.
Alas, Covid-19 put the 11th hour kibosh on the four games fixed for the Aviva Stadium last summer, but all UEFA boxes were ticked, under Local Organising Committee (LOC) lead Declan Conroy, and that will stand to the FAI in their play for Euro 2028.
Will Croke Park be part of that sales pitch?
According to Hill, ‘conversations’ with the GAA will continue.
As a standalone venue for a 24team tournament, the Aviva would be guaranteed three games in the group phase and one in the knockout, but should UEFA expand to 32 teams, involving 63 games, Croke Park would certainly come into the equation.
Should the finals come to Dublin, will the Republic of Ireland be part of the Euro 2028 party?
As part of their Strategy 2022-25 launch this week, the FAI believe it’s feasible for the senior men’s team to target qualification for every second major tournament.
Since 1996, the Republic of Ireland have qualified for three out of 14 finals, one in the last five. A 50 per cent success rate seems overly ambitious.
‘I definitely think it remains a challenge (to qualify) for the World Cup,’ acknowledged Hill. ‘Even when you move to a 48-team final, the allocation of places to Europe it’s 16 out of 55 to qualify, that’s tough. That doesn’t mean we don’t have aspirations to be there.
‘If we do well in relation to Euro 2024, maybe our ranking will move in the right direction and we could be a second seed, rather than third seed. In relation to the Euro finals, if we move to a 32-team out of 55, am I confident we would qualify on that basis? Yes I am.’
If Ireland, currently ranked 26th in Europe, were unable to qualify for a 32-team Euro final, it would be a new all-time low.
No one wants to go there.
The Euro 2024 draw takes place on October 22 and Hill understands that FIFA world rankings, rather than Nations League finishing positions, will determine the order of the seeds.
For all the 61 targets in the fouryear plan, the absence of a sponsor for the Irish men’s senior and under age teams is a smudge on Hill’s stewardship until it is rubbed out.
In the past week, the Irish Open golf championship secured a bumper multi-million six-year title sponsor, while 14 of 15 sponsored races over two days at Leopardstown last weekend carried prize money in excess of €1.8m.
The Covid-19 coast is clearing and companies are prepared to cough up and invest in sport.
Just as FAI chair Roy Barrett stressed on Tuesday, there would be no more excuses for previous FAI failings, so there should be no let-off for the inability to source a primary backer. Three hung up on the FAI in November 2019.
As FAI repeatedly ram home a positive message about Kenny’s progressive young Irish team, why aren’t firms with deep pockets listening? Perhaps the FAI remains a toxic brand. If so, might a change of name – Football Ireland, for instance – help?
‘I don’t think at the moment there is any need to change the name of the association because we are the Football Association of Ireland,’ said Hill.
‘A brand refresh, certainly for the League of Ireland, is well overdue.
‘I think we will look in relation to the identity i.e. the crest in relation to the Association itself and what is on the shirt.’
The shirt is without a name and that needs addressing as a priority.