State funding of €5.8 million to the FAI is on hold, with the troubled governing body hoping that it is green lighted next month.
Last year, the government bailed out the debt-ridden Association in return for an agreement to reform governance and the composition of the FAI board.
The FAI's grant for 2021 has to be approved by the board for Sport Ireland, and the expectation is that it will be rubberstamped after May's FAI AGM.
“That €5.8 million was a commitment made by the Government to the FAI to meet their needs over the next three years,” said John Treacy, chief executive of Sport Ireland.
“That will go to the board in May, so it was a timing issue, nothing more than a timing issue.
“Obviously, we are working very closely with the FAI in terms of meeting the conditions of the memorandum of understanding, and they’ve made very good progress on that, just to say that, a lot of dialogue going on with the FAI around a lot of that.
"They’re having their AGM at the end of May to finalise that process, so it’s mainly a timing issue at this particular point in time.”
Of Irish sport's big three, most State funds are going to the FAI.
The GAA have been granted €2,389,653, while €2,250,843 has gone to the IRFU.
All three bodies last year benefitted from a separate Covid-relief fund, with the GAA, IRFU and FAI drawing down €31 million, €18 million and €13 million respectively.
The total of €13.8 million granted this year to National Sports Governing Bodies is the same as last year’s figure, as is the €8.5 million granted to High Performance Programmes.
The €2.68 million investment into the Carding scheme – which supports elite athletes eligible for the Olympic and Paralympic Games – has increased slightly.
High performance programme funding will also be maintained for 2021 at €8,500,000.
2021 is anticipated to be an expensive year for high performance programmes as there remains a high level of uncertainty around competition and training camp plans due to Covid-19.
Sport Ireland will provide further support in 2021 to address the immediate and confirmed costs to high performance programmes in respect of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The international carding scheme provides financial support to 130 athletes and six Tokyo targeted relays/squads across 16 sports.
The primary purpose of this funding is to support Irish athletes in reaching finals and achieving medals at European, World, Olympic and Paralympic level.
The level of funding on this scheme has increased from €2.4 million in 2020. The scheme has been amended to account for the challenges faced by athletes and NGBs as a result of Covid-19.
