The Football Association of Ireland has said that the TV rights deal negotiated with Sky was an important factor in securing the future of the game in Ireland.
The news comes with the knowledge that next week’s European qualifier with Switzerland will be available live on Sky Sports only.
They also reiterated their belief that without financial investment there will be no new generation of soccer stars to watch and “TV rights income forms the backbone of the FAI's finances for this investment”.
The Association says it has made efforts behind the scenes over the last number of weeks to explore avenues which would provide similar levels of revenues for the development of the game and increase the live TV viewership, but no realistic alternative proposals had emerged.