The Football Association of Ireland is the governing body when it comes to football events in Ireland. They also promote inclusion and equality when it comes to Irish football, while facilitating matches at the national level.
In recent years players have left FAI leagues to chase more success in the English Premier League with Irish bookmakers even offering odds on who’s likely to leave next. The FAI run many competitions within the country too, with the FAI Cup being a prime example.
Controversies
Ever since its inception, the Football Association of Ireland has been involved in a large variety of controversies. In fact, the most famous one was Merriongate, a controversy that appeared in 1996. According to that, the FAI wanted to acquire more tickets for Ireland’s matches via ticket exchange from other games or even ticket touts. In the end, they remained with a lot of unsold tickets and that brought a massive amount of losses for the organization.
Additionally, in 2007, the FAI started a 5-year term that would alloy it to run the League of Ireland. However, things did not start well, because the FAI was accused of not allocating clubs between the two divisions properly. Instead of relegating and promoting, they used finances, infrastructure and result-weighting.
There was also an issue between FC Barcelona and Limerick FC in 2010, where the FAI refused to sanction that friendly match. However, after a while, the reason for the refusal was an agreement that the FAI had where any game that had a capacity of over 20k needed to have a third party agreement. Also, the FAI was thinking about having their own match with FC Barcelona.
A lot of people are still gambling on the FAI-made events, and for a great reason, because they can be quite profitable. There are great odds to be bad at times, and many bookmakers are providing this type of service, so it can be an option. But as we can see, the FAI organization is not without its own controversies.
FAI’s finances
Multiple controversies and a lack of transparency ended up bringing financial trouble to the organization. That’s why in 2017, John Delaney, the chief executive for FAI gave the organization a €100,000 loan. The main purpose for that loan was to help the organization get past some financial struggles at that time. What was interesting to note there is that this was a bridging loan. That loan was offered in April 2017 and it got repaid in June.
According to Delaney, the loan was necessary for the organization, and it was reflective of bad timing. Based on the info offered, the FAI performance was not ideal at that specific time, and a loan didn’t have any specific impact. 2 years later, in 2017, Delaney had to appear in front of the Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Transport and Sport, and when asked about more details, he said he couldn’t offer any. That brought its own controversies, with the Leinster Senior League chairman himself asking for a change since he was not confident in the FAI’s direction.
And that doesn’t cover any of the hidden losses, which it seems there were a lot of. According to data from the Irish Examiner, the FAI accounts for 2016 and 2017 were showing significant profits, but in December 2019, the data changed. Instead of profits for the 2 years, the figures were changed and now the FAI was showing losses in the account of both years.
It became very fearful for the national team itself, since they were participating at the Euro 2020 play-offs without knowing if they would receive any funds. Not only that, but during the time, the FAI liquidation was a possibility, especially since the organization was dealing with a significant funding crisis.
The organization continues to struggle
It certainly doesn’t help that the FAI CEO changed multiple times between 2019 and 2020, when the company was facing significant financial challenges. In fact, the CEO was changed 4 times during a very short timespan, a clear sign that things are not ok, and some issues will arise sooner rather than later.,
Delaney resigned in September 2019, Gary Owens took over, and Niall Quinn was interim Deputy CEO, and lastly Gery McAnaney replaced them to become president. Having so many shifts in the leadership of any organization is a sign that things are not going well, and it was definitely not ok for the organization itself.
How are things looking for the FAI in 2024?
The Government has assisted FAI recently, but even at the beginning of this year, they tarted adding more and more conditions to be met in order for them to receive any funds. Even during their last meeting, some leaked documents state that the Minister of Sport told the FAI that if they don’t meet a gender diversity target of 40%, they will face major funding cuts.
Despite its continuous struggles and challenges, the FAI is still a major factor when it comes to the future of Irish football. The FAI is still dealing with controversies, since recently, Jonathan Hill resigned because of a financial scandal related to his holiday pay.
Is it possible for Ireland to turn around the FAI? Yes, with stricter rules that condition any funding, all these things will end up improving the FAI and turn it around. The organization still plays a major role when it comes to organizing tournaments within the country. As per many industry insiders, the FAI will be crucial in regards to the organization of EURO 2028 events as well.
Does that mean the FAI will get better? The fact that the Irish Government is taking steps to ensure transparency and they establish a rules set for the organization is extremely helpful. But there’s always doubt when it comes to the FAI, the way it’s ran and the challenges that it faced from a financial standpoint. It also doesn’t help that the organization hid financial records and lied about being profitable for multiple years, either. That’s why it’s more important than ever to clean the record in regards to the FAI and ensure that it will have a brighter future. Doing so will have a very positive impact on the growth of football in Ireland, so it’s of the utmost priority!