IT FEELS STRANGE to write a column about League of Ireland Football during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Football seems silly in a way. People have died, are dying and will die. Who in Italy is worried about Serie A? Atalanta were experiencing a historic season, they now lie in the epicenter of the crisis in Bergamo.
People are more important than football, but football is made up of people and as restrictions on gatherings and sports grew our focus rightly switched from the next game to the players and staff at our clubs.
Friends and former colleagues in the game across many clubs have been frantically trying to balance what could be offered in wages against their very existence.
Some clubs including Cork City FC, who I support, have already stated they cannot pay wages in the absence of match income. The lack of a TV deal has long been a bugbear, but even with one in place it is unlikely it would have maintained matches behind closed doors.
It hasn’t for the ‘Big 5′ leagues with Bundesliga players taking wage cuts this week.
Interviews and pieces by Dylan McGlade, Ronan Hurley and captain Gearoid Morrissey have been reassuring to Cork City fans, and those by Jack Byrne and others likewise outside the Cork City bubble I occupy.
In his Independent interview, McGlade highlighted the impact on his brother’s job and the sense that everyone is in this together. This isn’t mismanagement, bad faith on the part of a dodgy owner or an ‘FAI issue’. The FAI have been straightforward, honest, listening to the experts and have for the first time I can remember, have prioritised LoI employment.
Some clubs have come out and stated that they will maintain wages in conjunction with the governmental support package announced earlier, which is brilliant, but the uncertainty around how long this current crisis will last is uncertain.
The FAI have announced the suspension of all football until 19 April at a minimum, the league is penciled in for a return the following month, but the truth is that we just don’t know what the future holds.
What the present holds we know, to a degree.
League of Ireland clubs are locked down and are a non-essential business. Those still working in the LoI are doing so from home and remotely, those volunteering to get through the crisis doing likewise.
The government support packages allow some relief, all LoI clubs will easily meet the criteria of the pandemic causing a 25% drop in income.
Work continues; matches and income have vanished, it doesn’t mean issues have. Sponsors who made commitments may no longer be able to honour them given the new realities. Clubs must weigh up the right response, balancing income and relationships.
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