FAI CEO Jonathan Hill agrees to repay €20,000 expenses he received

Jonathan Hill, the Football Association of Ireland chief executive officer, has agreed to repay commuting expenses and payment in lieu of untaken holiday pay.

The overall figure Hill erroneously received is reportedly as much as €20,000 with the FAI confirming last night that payments to their chief executive in the past two years do not exceed the salary of a secretary general.

This was agreed under a memorandum of understanding between the association and the Irish Government, following a €30 million rescue package in January 2020.

In 2023, Hill paid for his own commuting expenses, having initially agreed to receive a €30,000 sum to relocate from London when appointed CEO in 2020. However, due to personal family circumstances he has always commuted.

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“Off the back of the pandemic, the way in which people work has changed over the last 18 months,” said Hill in February 2022. “I’ve had hundreds of Zoom calls and Teams calls. For me, the most important thing is not where I do my work, it is how I do my work. And the outcomes from that work.

“At the moment it’s unlikely I will move my family here. I have young daughters and a son at a specific point of their education that has been affected by the pandemic, so I think it would be unfair on them to move at this specific point. I will be here and I will be very close to this office so I can be here on a very regular basis.”

FAI president Gerry McAnaney said that “this particular situation in question is now being resolved,” adding that it was a “technical financial interpretation” and Hill was “not responsible” for receiving the payments.

But the Irish Independent are reporting that the Government has suspended funding in the region of €500,000 until the FAI are compliant over the CEO repayments, with a spokesperson for the Minister for Sport and Physical Education Thomas Byrne stating: “Sport Ireland are actively engaging with the FAI in relation to this and we understand that the FAI have recently written to Sport Ireland to confirm their intention to achieve compliance.”

The FAI, by email, added that there is “ongoing dialogue with Sport Ireland given their oversight” regarding “benefit in kind payments and pay in lieu of annual holiday to the CEO.” The association added that “all the requested actions” from Sport Ireland have been agreed upon.