FAI meets Government today - February 23, 2000
Senior FAI officials meet Government ministers today to discuss the state-backed 80,000-seater "Stadium Ireland" proposal - and Irish newspapers are predicting that Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will offer the soccer bosses anywhere between IR£20 million and IR£100 million as an incentive to join the scheme.
The Government want the FAI to abandon the soccer body's own plans for the 45,000-seater Eircom Park and instead play their international matches at Stadium Ireland. Only the Irish Rugby Union, with its three home internationals a year, has so far signed up for the Government plan, which cannot succeed unless soccer comes aboard too.
The FAI are pressing ahead with their own plans while talking to the Government. They want to hear what the Government is prepared to offer and will keep Stadium Ireland as a fall-back plan in case Eircom Ireland falls through - unless, of course, the Government bribe turns out to be too tempting to turn down.