Fees wrangle places future of Carling Nations Cup in doubt

THE future of the Carling Nations Cup is in fresh doubt after it emerged that the participating nations are in dispute over the distribution of revenues.

The football associations of the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Wales have announced they are seeking to reduce the Scottish Football Association’s fee for the tournament, and have expressed disappointment over reports that Fifa could be brought in to arbitrate.

Reports at the weekend claimed the SFA were set to report the Football Association of Ireland to Fifa over the non-payment of a £1.2 million share of revenue from this year’s four-team tournament in Dublin.

However, both Irish governing bodies and their Welsh counterparts yesterday claimed they had been in negotiations with the SFA over reducing their payment.

In a joint statement, they said: “The tournament was established by the FAI, (Irish Football Association) IFA, (Football Association of Wales) FAW and SFA in 2010 with costs and revenues to be shared and the Scottish FA getting a minimum fee requested for participation.

“The competition took place in Dublin in February and May this year and returned a profit derived from television rights, sponsorship and ticket sales.

“Following the tournament the FAI, the IFA and the FAW have been in negotiations with the Scottish FA seeking a downward adjustment of their fee to give a more equitable share of the profits to each of the competing associations based on the economic climate and ticket sales generated at the tournament.

“It is disappointing that this matter has come into the public arena while the four associations are still trying to reach agreement.

“The FAI, IFA and FAW will not be making any further comment to give proper space for those discussions to take place.”

The SFA will not comment on the matter other than to say that “private discussions are ongoing”. However, the combination of poor attendances and reduced revenues place a question mark over the tournament’s future.

The inaugural tournament took place at the Aviva Stadium in February and May, with the hosts lifting the trophy after beating Scotland in the final game.

The second tournament was provisionally scheduled for Wales in 2013 and talks were expected to take place earlier this year but no contractual commitments have been made.

The future of the tournament was cast into doubt even before the initial event when the Football Association confirmed they had been speaking to other British associations about the possibility of a one-off tournament to mark their 150th anniversary in 2013.

Vauxhall, who sponsor the four home nations, were also keen to get involved and the latest cash issues could further threaten the existence of the competition.

Attendances did not break the 20,000 mark at any point during the tournament with only a few hundred fans watching Wales play Northern Ireland.

In addition, supporters were aggrieved over ticket prices and arrangements.