FAI to receive IMG bill today - March 14,
2001
The five-member officer board of the FAI meets today with IMG, the management group responsible for the Eircom Park project - and the soccer body's chief executive, Bernard O'Byrne, will come under more pressure to quit if the group hand in a big bill, on top of the £3.5 million which opponents say has already been "wasted" on the aborted stadium.
Speculation in some quarters suggests that IMG will slap in a bill for up to £7 million. But O'Byrne claims the figure will be far lower and even FAI treasurer Brendan Menton - a staunch opponent of Eircom Park - concedes that not all the wok done by IMG on the FAI's behalf was related to the stadium project.
Never the less, any substantial claim by IMG will give opponents another stick with which to beat O'Byrne and would almost certainly prompt a debate on his future at tomorrow's FAI Board of Management meeting.
The chief executive has already survived a motion calling for his resignation at a meeting of League clubs the other night. The motion was tabled by Drogheda United delegate Paddy Goodwin. No vote was taken - but Goodwin claimed afterwards that not a single voice had raised on Bernard O'Byrne's behalf during a lengthy debate.