Sinn Féin spokesperson on Sport, Chris Andrews TD, and MEP Lynn Boylan have said that the government has missed an open goal to use funds from the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) to invest in Irish football academies, and have ignored the critical opportunity to substantially develop Irish football infrastructure in a post-Brexit landscape.

The fund has rightly been used to support the tourism, agriculture and fisheries sectors but there is still a large amount unspent that the government could have used to address decades of underinvestment in football academy infrastructure in the state.

Speaking in Brussels today, following a joint meeting between the FAI, Sinn Féin, UEFA officials and EU officials, Teachta Andrews said:

“The traditional path of some of our best young Irish footballers joining British academies at the age of 16 or 17 has stopped, directly because of Brexit.

“This has created a substantial gap in a crucial period of development that so many relied on to reach their full potential.

“Despite the glaring impact that Brexit has had on developing Irish footballers, the government has failed to seek BAR funding to address the issue, leaving the young Irish footballers to suffer.

“They have dropped the ball here, squandering a golden opportunity to invest in Irish football academies, which would benefit our young players, grassroots clubs, and strengthen the future of Irish football. This is unforgivable.

“Today, alongside the FAI, we met with UEFA and the EU officials overseeing the fund to outline how Brexit has impacted the development of young Irish footballers.

“EU officials today told us what we have believed – that the FAI had a fair case to access this funding, meeting all the main criteria of what this fund was intended for.

“Now that Irish footballers can no longer join British academies until the age of 18, bringing Irish football academies up to a modern standard, in line with our EU peers, would provide the necessary alternative.

“This would give young players world-class training at home, help clubs remain sustainable, strengthen our domestic league and, most importantly, help realise the potential of our best young players to represent Ireland on the international stage.”

Lynn Boylan MEP:

“This is yet another opportunity squandered by the current government, who have not only curbed player development but have ignored the broader economic and social benefits that using this fund to invest in domestic academies would bring.

“The government rightly sought support for a number of other sectors such as Tourism, Agriculture and the fisheries – all of which received funding from the Brexit Adjustment Fund.

“But the government has missed an open goal to use this fund for football.

“This is a failure of the Minister for Sport and the government. Yet again we see that sport is an afterthought in the mind of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Greens.”