Wednesday 18 December 2019 23:49, UK
The Football Association of Ireland has claimed its bid to avoid insolvency has been made harder after "confidentiality was broken" during a Government meeting.
Irish Sports Minister Shane Ross revealed at a meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Sport that the FAI had asked the Irish Government for a £15.3m bail-out.
The FAI said in a statement: "The FAI Board had welcomed the opportunity to meet with Government on Monday night when confidential talks took place regarding the financial future of the Association and efforts to safeguard jobs at the FAI and the future of football in Ireland.
"That confidentiality was broken in the Oireachtas [on Wednesday] and as a consequence, this has made the efforts to secure the financial future of the FAI all the more difficult."
The FAI's annual accounts, released last month, showed it had liabilities of more than £46m.
Mr Ross told the Oireachtas Sport Committee that a recent independent audit into the FAI, which had been passed on to the Gardai, stated the governing body was "not fit to handle public funds".
FAI executive lead Paul Cooke said: "A number of points were raised [on Wednesday], some of which we addressed in confidence at Monday night's meeting in Leinster House when we presented Government with a credible business plan produced in partnership with Grant Thornton.
"We outlined the current serious financial situation at the Association and how government involvement could help secure a refinancing package.
"The Board, management and staff at the FAI are working hard to avoid an insolvency process.
"We know better than anyone the consequences that would have on our international teams, the League of Ireland and the hundreds of thousands who play football up and down the country every weekend. The Board wants to do what is best for all those stakeholders and for our staff."
