NI National Stadium a long way off says Minister

Sports Minister, Michael McGimpsey has said the time was not right to invest millions of pounds in a new stadium and that the chances of gaining the £60m needed to fund the venture were fairly remote.

The Minister made the statement after endorsing the recommendations proposed in the report ‘Creating a Soccer Strategy for Northern Ireland’, which is chaired by former Northern Ireland football international, Billy Hamilton.

The report was published last October following an open forum into improving football in Northern Ireland following the demise of local soccer since the halcyon days of the 1980's.

Emphasising that widespread consultation had taken place throughout the whole process, Mr McGimpsey said: “The core issue to emerge was that there should be a single, newly constituted governing body for the sport which combines the current functions of the Irish Football Association (IFA) and the Irish Football League (IFL).

“While the IFA and the IFL have served us long and well, I support the view that arrangements and practices for managing football need to be adapted to meet modern day needs and standards as well as for facing future challenges.

“Indeed, there is a recognition and an acceptance of this overriding priority within the organisations themselves and I warmly welcome the efforts they have been making over the last six months to consider how such changes can be effected.

“I firmly believe that a new body, based on the principles of equality, fairness, inclusiveness, leadership, accountability and transparency, is fundamental to making progress across all the other issues highlighted in the Report.”

Stressing that it was imperative the IFA and the IFL urgently and comprehensively brought their deliberations on the whole issue to a conclusion, Mr McGimpsey added: “Football’s leadership now needs to provide a clear, unambiguous commitment to change the structure of the game’s governance and administration and to introduce changes generally consistent with the recommendations in the Advisory Panel’s Report.

“In addition, they must also be prepared to work closely with the Sports Council for Northern Ireland to draw up a long–term plan detailing the actions to be taken, the costs involved and the timetable for implementation.”

The Minister said that if these commitments were forthcoming, he would then be prepared to make a bid to the Executive seeking the necessary resources to take the Strategy forward. However, he stressed that such a case would need to be comprehensive and robust and that the package of costed proposals would have to be lodged with the Executive this year.

In conclusion, Mr McGimpsey said he was satisfied that the recommendations in the Advisory Panel’s Report had the support of the wider football interests and provided a sound platform for the development of the game.

(MB)