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League of Ireland clubs will miss out on €750,000 in valuable UEFA grants if this season’s Champions League and Europa League are not finished.

UEFA are holding crunch conference calls this week to discuss how to complete a season disrupted by Covid-19.

The hope is the Champions League final will be played in Istanbul on Saturday, August 29, with the Europa League decider taking place in Gdansk three days earlier.

That would pave the way for the four remaining Champions League Last 16 ties to be played ahead of quarter-finals and semi-finals.

And clubs here will benefit financially if both European competitions are successfully completed in full.

They already profit from UEFA’s ‘Solidarity Payment’ - a distribution of funds to member associations generated by the Champions League and Europa League.

UEFA established the scheme to promote youth development and the money is paid to national associations and then ring fenced for such projects.

The cost to Irish clubs of running Under-13, Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 sides can be offset by these grants.

In 2017, the FAI received €825,000 from UEFA in solidarity payments.

The same figure was paid the following year while the FAI announced at the league launch that it would top up the fund by a further €250,000.

Mirror Sport understands the latest UEFA solidarity payment due to the FAI is in the region of €750,000 for 2019.

But the pot won’t be available if this season’s Champions League and Europa League are scrapped because of Covid-19.

Last year, the four Irish clubs involved in European competition pocketed a total of €1.86 million in UEFA prize money.

Meanwhile, the FAI has responded to a letter it received from FIFA regarding the imminent emergency financial fund it intends to establish.

(Image: Matthias Hangst)

World football’s governing body has over €2 billion in reserve and is busy mapping out ways of helping the football community in the wake of the pandemic.

FIFA is expected to finalise its roll out plan within the next two months with a source stating that the process is “progressing well, but a structure has still to be decided.”

Each national association is set to land a lump sum in the form of grants or loans that will be used to assist various strands of the game from grassroots to League of Ireland.

As it stands, the League of Ireland is due to resume on June 19 and while the FAI was yesterday sticking by that date - for now - even that is deemed fanciful.

While it is hoped that players could be back training next month, there are growing fears that league matches with crowds may not resume until September at least.

And that is why clubs are continuing to investigate how financially viable it would be to restart the season behind-closed-doors in June or July.