Editorials

The Irish Times view on John Delaney and the FAI

If board members are confident to stand over their governance, they should welcome the outside scrutiny that’s now required

Football Association of Ireland chief John Delaney in the stands during the Uefa Euro 2020 qualifying Group D match at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin, on Tuesday night. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Wed Mar 27 2019 - 01:00

John Delaney has claimed over the years that he delivered for Irish football. The debate around that contention will rumble on but what is obvious is that Irish football has delivered for Delaney. Aside from a basic salary that comfortably exceeded those of his counterparts at Ireland's other major sporting organisations, he has received substantial additional benefits, some of which are only coming to light now.

The FAI is a large organisation receiving millions of euro in direct public support and many more in the form of indirect subsidies, capital grant aid to its clubs and affiliates and substantial funding of specific posts and programmes. In return, the public – who ultimately pay for all of this – have a right to expect far higher standards.

Delaney has been the public face of the FAI for 15 years but when controversy has engulfed him – as it has so often – he has insisted that he is answerable to the board of the association.

That he will no longer be a member of that board is one of the few positives to emerge in recent days, nothwithstanding the unorthodox game of executive musical chairs which has resulted in him being appointed to a newly created senior role within the FAI.

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The question remains, however: who do the 10 other board members answer to. Some have been there for as long as Delaney has been CEO and have come to be regarded as close allies. A majority were in situ when his last contract was agreed and, subsequently, when he is said to have lent his employer €100,000.

Neither that financial transaction nor expenses he was paid were reported in the FAI’s relevant annual accounts.

The mechanisms of accountability within the FAI appear to have fallen into disrepair quite some time ago but if board members are confident to stand over their governance of the organisation, they should welcome the sort of outside scrutiny which is now required to restore confidence. If not, the Government must use its financial leverage to ensure the best interests of the public are being properly protected.

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