UEFA To Help Football Association Of Ireland Meet Aviva Stadium Debt Repayments

UEFA has "stepped in to help the Football Association of Ireland meet its debt repayments for the Aviva Stadium," according to Damian Spellman of the IRISH INDEPENDENT. The organization has confirmed that it has advanced a "solidarity payment," understood to amount to several million euro from its development fund, to the FAI. The agreement "was reached after a meeting" between UEFA Finance Dir Josef Koller and Danske Bank, the FAI's main creditor, at which CEO John Delaney was present. The FAI "declined to comment on the report" on Sunday (IRISH INDEPENDENT, 6/9). INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL's Andrew Warshaw wrote the venue "is Ireland's only UEFA elite stadium." Unlike its predecessor, which was for rugby use, "the stadium is controlled jointly by both the round and oval-ball game." The Aviva Group "signed a 10-year deal for naming rights" in '09 (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 6/10).