For the FAI, the selling of the Euro 2028 bid as a potential good-news story for their parish presents some complications. This was evident in how they handled launch day, with softball in-house interviews the order of the day.
here are sections of the football community who view the pursuit of a major tournament as an unnecessary distraction, a vanity project at a time when chronic infrastructural problems continue to stunt the development of the game.
Even the positivity of a 27pc increase in League of Ireland Premier Division attendances is dampened by the reality that the numbers would actually be much higher if the top level of the sport here had modern facilities instead of a rump of decrepit venues that just about meet health and safety criteria.
Naturally enough, the omission of Croke Park from the finals bid was the main talking point when the stadium list was revealed at lunchtime yesterday.
There is no suggestion, however, that the snub is causing great stress for the GAA.
That’s because they are still in line to be net winners from the overall project.
As it stands, the legacy of the 2028 bid on this island could be the UK government funding the creation of a new main facility for the GAA north of the border, a longstanding target that has proved difficult to deliver.
A loss for Croke Park under one heading will prove to be a victory in another if this scenario comes to pass – the political climate in Northern Ireland is an advertisement for caution on confidently declaring targets will be met.
Given their financial predicament, there is an angle for the FAI to sell the merits of getting involved in a bid because the Aviva Stadium – or the Dublin Arena as it will be known – will only need minimal work to be brought up to scratch. Dublin City Council, the Irish government and UEFA foot various bills so the FAI outlay is small.
But it was significant that Jonathan Hill chose to reference local facilities in the course of a four-minute internal FAI production on the bid that managed to skilfully avoid any reference to Croke Park being left out of the final submission.
“We are looking at a legacy plan for the whole of Irish grassroots football on the back of a successful bid,” said Hill, in the course of an answer which started off with the usual line predicting a round-figure (over €240m in this instance) benefit to the economy.
“Finally, and perhaps really importantly for us in relation to another of our key strategic goals, which is to develop the facility infrastructure within Ireland, this gives a real impetus to those discussions both with government and with other stakeholders within the game.”
No details were forthcoming (admittedly it’s hard to do when there’s still a race to be run) but there will be healthy cynicism around these promises.
Remember, the Euro 2020 bid was supposed to advance the cause of the new Dalymount Park. Covid interrupted things, of course, but that commitment turned out to be a €500,000 investment towards the design stage of a project that will cost many multiples of that and has hit massive delays.
It is true that the FAI are close to completing a nationwide facilities audit that will be presented to government in the search for support.
And it’s possible that the backlash to the idea of a tournament bid delivering no lasting impact for the game in this country might be the catalyst for action to get a few shovels into action.
Relations between Abbotstown and the corridors of political power are believed to be good at the moment but there’s still a whiff of all talk and no action.
The football family will believe it when they see more than an artist’s impression of a stadium that never actually comes into existence.
That’s not to say winning the hosting rights is devoid of upside. Memories and moments that inspire the next generation are needed; there’s been a shortage of them in recent decades.
Admittedly, this depends on Ireland qualifying and there is no ‘absolute guarantee’ of an automatic berth, according to Hill. Our political movers and shakers are so reactive that they’ll leap to get on board with any bandwagon. A generous read of the FAI’s strategy towards these things is that they’re playing the game.
It would be a surprise if the Britain and Ireland tilt to host the competition fails, especially as they were urged to steer the course from flying the European flag in the World Cup 2030 scrap. Turkey, their only rival, have a miserable record in these races.
The hands across the border element, the greening of an English-led bid, will be important currency post-Brexit with the British government unlikely to win any popularity contests.
But all politics is local, as they say, and the FAI face a delicate balancing act. Trumpeting the pursuit of a tournament that was reliant on a GAA stadium is one thing; a version that improves the GAA’s superior infrastructure, albeit in a different jurisdiction, is a quirky twist on the same old story.