FAI CEO JONATHAN Hill apologised to FAI delegates over the issue relating to his pay which led to the suspension of State funding to the football body, with former chairman Roy Barrett accepting “full responsibility” for the episode.
Under the terms of the State bailout of the FAI in 2020, CEO remuneration cannot exceed that of a secretary general of a government department. A Sport Ireland audit of the FAI revealed Hill’s remuneration was €20,000 above this threshold, relating to benefit in kind not paid on travel and accommodation expenses and payments made in lieu of holiday days not taken.
The money has been repaid and State funding has now been released to the FAI. Speaking to the delegates at today’s Annual General Meeting, Hill said he apologised unreservedly over the issue, acknowledging it evoked memories of the FAI’s recent past, from which the football body is trying to move on.
Payments made in lieu of holidays not taken is not permitted under the FAI employee handbook, but the Association told the floor they have contacted staff to reinstate lost holiday days from previous years.
Barrett, meanwhile, accepted responsibility for the granting of this pay in lieu of Hill’s holiday days not taken. He explained he, as chairman, was approached by members of the FAI’s executive team – none of whom were Hill – to explain “exceptional circumstances” in which Hill was unable to take holiday days in 2022, owing to Covid and personal circumstances.
Barrett decided to grant the money in lieu of holiday pay to Hill: he said he did not believe it would be in breach of the State bailout agreement, and said he was also mindful of the need to retain, motivate, and incentivise senior staff such as the CEO.
Barrett said it was “a good faith decision made for all of the right reasons”, saying ” I don’t apologise for the decision, I believe it was the right decision. I still think it was, I believe I had the authority to make the decision.”
Barrett informed the Association’s remuneration committee about the decision, on which some board members sit. A potential issue with the payment was identified by Sport Ireland, with KOSI commissioned in June to complete an audit. The whole of the board were not made aware of the payments issue until November of this year, when it emerged that Sport Ireland had suspended funding after the completion of the KOSI audit.
Asked as to why he did not inform the whole of the board of the potential issue with Hill’s remuneration when it was first raised in June, Barrett said he wanted to wait until he had the full information was available while also appearing to suggest he knew the details would be leaked to the media. This latter stance was described by delegate Brendan Dillon as “alarming.”
Barrett said he was unaware that the payments may have constituted a breach of the bailout agreement until October this year.
Barrett used the meeting to rail against what he perceived as a culture of leaking on the FAI board, pointing out a letter he wrote to board members asking them to stop leaking then appeared in full in a Sunday newspaper.
He called these leaks “objectionable” which created a “difficult environment for the majority of the board.”
“I’ll take responsibility for the [payments] decision”, Barrett told the floor. “I still think they were the right thing to do. I’ll tell you something, I will not take responsibility for the media leaks. I’ll take responsibility for what I do. But don’t put on me the general public perception of the FAI going back a number of years.”
In what amounted to a valedictory address by Barrett, he decried the politicking of the sport in Ireland, saying it is holding back its development.
“There are some for whom their factions and interests are more importan, and where they lie in the power structures of the game. The one fundamental thing that is holding this game back is factions, people thinking power is important. How many times have I hard the phrase ‘take back control?’ From whom? The one thing that will stop the progress of football in this country, and how it’s perceived. Unless that is dealt with, this game will not make the progress it must.”
Barrett was not met with any applause from the floor, and one delegate shouted his address was “a lecture.”
The meeting later ratified former Tesco CEO Tony Keohane as Barrett’s successor as independent chairman, with 111 votes in favour and two against.
Paul Cooke was elected as the new FAI president, wining 89 votes to Joe Brien’s 21. John Finnegan was elected as the new vice-president.
Elsewhere, David Moran, Nixon Morton, and Tom Browne were all ratified and elected to the board as football directors. Catherine Guy and Liz Joyce were ratified as independent directors.
At an earlier EGM, FAI delegates voted to expand the board to 14 members, allowing them to meet a State mandate to meet a minimum of 40% female representation on their board, and thus avoid a cut to half of their State funding next year. The process to recruit an additional two female members will begin next year.