WITH news that the FAI opposed FC Barcelona coming to Thomond Park and the subsequent statement released by Limerick FC, the FAI, on Thursday night said the following;
1. As the FAI has already told Limerick FC, their request for authorisation to confirm to FC Barcelona that they would be able to play in Ireland on July 31, was refused because of third party commercial agreements which prevent the Association from doing so.
2. In addition, the FAI has also told Limerick FC that it is in active and ongoing negotiations with FC Barcelona in relation to a visit of Aviva Stadium.
3. Thirdly, the Association told Limerick FC that it was obliged to retain ownership of the July 31 date because of Airtricity League fixtures.
Although the timing of Limerick FC’s proposal means this request cannot be granted, the FAI has already given permission to Limerick FC for a match it applied for involving Sunderland in Thomond Park on July 13.
THE Limerick Chamber have added their weight to the issue;
Kieran Mac Sweeney President of Limerick Chamber said, “If one of the top soccer clubs in the world is willing to come to Thomond Park to play, why is our national football association unwilling to support this?
“Aside from the fact that the match would give a much needed boost to the local economy, a game of this magnitude will also help to increase support for the game of soccer which has been suffering at a local level in recent years.
“It is incumbent on our national association to act like a national association and not a Dublin centric one. If there are valid reasons for their actions we have yet to hear them. In the absence of a valid reason we can only conclude that the FAI not supporting this match is unacceptable and the match should be allowed to go ahead”.
