The Football Association of Ireland will “not survive financially” if fans continue to be prohibited from attending domestic and international matches due to Covid-19, the footballing body is to tell an Oireachtas committee on Friday. FAI interim chief executive Garry Owens is to tell the committee that League of Ireland clubs “cannot survive without fans attending games”. “The harsh reality is that our association will not survive financially without fans attending our international and League of Ireland matches,” he will state. Mr Owens will state that league clubs “almost entirely depend financially on supporters attending games”, and he fears for their future financial viability. The organisation is dealing with a “cash flow crisis” as a result of the restrictions on spectators attending games, he will state.

Source: The Irish Times September 17, 2020 23:15 UTC