In a financial controversy which has shocked the grassroots game, the Kildare and District Underage League told delegates at its AGM last week, that apart from ‘a set of gear’ the league no longer had any assets.

This came as a considerable shock to stakeholders who had understood the league to be financially stable, and in control of a number of fixed assets, including a playing facility and a site which is currently under development.

It was also discovered that the League’s financial statement (to March 31, 2023) was neither audited, nor carried the correct accounts, instead consisting of financials for a separate company and entity.

Among other discoveries was the revelation that €115,569 had been spent on an away trip for academy players.

Following the meeting, the Fixtures Secretary resigned – although there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on her part – with a growing expectation that there will be more resignations to come.

The future of the league is now under severe threat as the vast majority of member clubs have formed an alliance consisting of financial experts, and are now building a case to try to identify where the league’s assets have gone.

The group is seeking legal advice on what steps to take next and to discover if they can legally retrieve lands and properties in Naas, that it believed were owned by the clubs, including a KDUL HQ and pitch facility at Tougher Park and a new all-weather development at nearby Killashee Hotel.

The Killashee site is most interesting, given it had been awarded €350k in a Sports Capital (SCEP) grant, funds initially dedicated for the site’s development as a facility for clubs, but which was recently claimed by national underage league side Klub Kildare - an entirely separate entity and one which falls under the FAI’s jurisdiction.

While the details and revelations from the past week are shocking, The Pitch recently reported that clubs had anticipated such a scenario, putting on the record their concerns ahead of the AGM to which they requested that only appropriate financials be distributed.

These included detailed financial statements, income and expenditure breakdowns, cashflow details and banking reconciliation.

No such information was delivered last week, nor it seems was there any appetite from the KDUL to furnish such detail.

While all of the above might seem quite parochial, the situation has major ramifications from a national perspective, in particular how clubs and players are protected amid a financial crisis.

The wider story is that there are no systems in place to protect clubs in such an event, even one where the future of a league is at stake.

You might think that the FAI takes over the running of that league as the governing body and as the organisation with more at stake through its strategic goal of increasing and growing the sport, particularly at underage boys and girls level.

The reality, however, is that due to a major flaw in the current system, the association insists it cannot interfere, highlighting a constitutional issue in how football is administered and run.

While the FAI is concerned about the emerging situation, the association is wary of even commenting on the matter due to current governance structures which dictate that all schoolboy/girl leagues are affiliates of, and fall under the jurisdiction of the SFAI.

While a senior FAI source told The Pitch that while the association is aware of what occurred at the AGM and “the subsequent financial questions that were raised at the meeting”, there is nothing it can do.

The source added that “each league is a separate entity and must be mindful of the rules that are associated with individual bodies”, likely a reference to the combined accounts delivered by the KDUL to give the figures a more positive look.

Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Gaeltacht, Catherine Martin, was last week asked in a written Dail question by local TD Catherine Murphy about the league, and in particular that €350k sports capital grant awarded for the Killashee pitch facility.

The Minister ordered that “no further payments” would be issued to the league until outstanding matters were clarified. No sooner had the Minister responded to the Dail question, she then changed her mind and approved the write-down of the remaining €210k, despite overhanging financial concerns.

While the situation in Kildare may be an isolated one for now, the wider question is how much of a problem is financial reporting, transparency and governance in grassroots football, an area which was supposed to improve following the 2019 catastrophe?

That falls down at the door of the SFAI, a largely political yet impotent and ineffective body, which organises fixtures and competitions well, but does little by way of administrative oversight.

A senior source at the schoolboy/girl association said it “is up to the clubs to deal with the KDUL”.

The current crisis at the KDUL was first signalled to the SFAI in the summer of 2022, when a former Chairman (Acting) wrote to the association.

Through a series of emails seen by The Pitch, Tom Kearney raised financial, transparency and governance issues but received no response – he then wrote to the FAI CEO Jonathan Hill about the issue.

Catherine Murphy has written to the SFAI to seek clarification on the situation, and she will write to the FAI in the coming days to express her concerns as a public representative on the ground.

However, with tensions always high between the FAI and SFAI, it is very difficult to see what the ruling body can do, beyond seeking a major change to the constitution, a move which would never be ratified by its wider ruling council, made up of leagues and associates of the KDUL.

Just look at what happened with the FAI following the discovery of its own financial misreporting calamity and a €65m black hole four years ago – a rock bottom scenario where everything would change for the better after that.

The reality is that the same rules apply as did then.

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Sponsorship set to reach €212m for 2023 

THIS year is set to be a bumper one for sports sponsorship investment with the amount in fees paid crashing through the €200m barrier.

In 2022 that figure stood at €196m, and according to Onside’s data research will climb to €212m for the current year.

To mark the significant spend in sports by sponsors and commercial partners, the Marketing Institute Ireland and Onside will host a ‘Who Won Sponsorship Series 2023’ at the Aviva Stadium on November 22.

Among the speakers will be the IRFU’s Padraig Power, World Rugby’s Kalle Kauppila and Rory Sheridan from Diageo.

A significant area of growth has been for women in sport, with Declan McBennett from RTÉ Sport and the FAI’s Louise Cassidy offering insights.

The Marketing Institute Ireland and ONSIDE event will combine a review of sports, entertainment, ambassador, broadcast, arts and cause-related events that attracted significant sponsorship in 2023.

There will be wider insights from a range of industry experts, Irish and international-based sponsors and rightsholders, and marketing professionals.

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Golf Magazine rules Royal County Down Ireland's best golf course 

AFTER a year in which an estimated 13,500 visitors played Royal County Down, the 2024 Irish Open venue has been voted the world’s sixth-best golf course, in a fascinating new poll.

While a regular fixture on the top of the Golf Digest World’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses - which excludes US courses in its international chart - the perhaps more relevant Golf Magazine poll puts RCD in sixth place, ahead of Augusta National and Pebble Beach.

Ten places behind comes Royal Portrush, host of the 2025 Open Championship while Ballybunion sits in 24th spot.

Lahinch in 37th, Rosapenna’s St Patrick’s Links (49) and Portmarnock at 59th make up an all island contingent of six representatives.

And the top three golf courses as deemed by Golf Magazine?

Pine Valley at number one and Cypress Point at two bring home an American one-two, while St Andrews comes in third spot.

The Golf Mag poll was conducted by 115 judges, and like with all of these things, the results are set to generate debate for some time to come.