Budget 2026: LOI academies to receive €3m in funding
League of Ireland academies are set to receive €3m in funding from the Government.
The details of Budget 2026 will be revealed later, but RTÉ Sport understands that the funding will fall short of the €4.45m requested by the FAI in their pre-budget submission.
The administration of the multiannual funding is expected to come through Sport Ireland rather than the FAI.
The full amount requested was intended for each club to operate 26 underage academies (male and female) and hire a minimum of three full-time staff each.
A recent independent audit, funded by Government, found that youth football facilities in Ireland lagged well behind those in other countries ranked 51-100 by world governing body FIFA. The Republic of Ireland men’s team are currently ranked 61st and have not qualified for an international tournament since Euro 2016.
Only 4% of clubs here have a full-time head of coaching, as against 46% in equivalent-ranked associations, while no LOI clubs have a minimum of four full-time academy coaches, compared to 36% in the aforementioned FIFA-ranked countries.
Elsewhere in the budget there will be an increase for funding to support programmes and pathways for other national governing bodies, with additional funding to the IRFU, the GAA and the GPA.
The GAA are to receive an additional €983,000, the IRFU €727,000, while there will be an additional €1.5m made available to the GPA.
High performance funding is to increase by €1.5m, while the biggest boost comes in the Large-Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund – an €18.7m increase will be made available for world-class facilities, under a new round of the Community Sports Infrastructure Fund.
Article Source – Budget 2026: LOI academies to receive €3m in funding