THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION of Ireland have today written to their voting members, informing of a postponement to the 2023 Annual General Meeting in a bid to salvage €4.3 million of annual State funding.
The AGM was initially slated for 21 October, but has now been pushed back in order to help the FAI meet a quota of 40% female representation on their board. The government have made that gender balance mandatory for all of the country’s sports governing bodies, and those not in compliance by the end of this year will have their State funding cut.
Three members of the current 11-person FAI board are female, with the Association requiring one more female member to meet the government’s demands. However, all members put forward for election to the board at the forthcoming AGM are male, which has resulted in the postponing of the meeting to later in the year.
The FAI board is supposed to consist of 12 members, six of whom are elected from football constituencies by the Association’s members, with another six independent directors. These are chosen by the FAI’s separate nominations committee, and then ratified by FAI members.
In their letter to members today, seen by The 42, the FAI explain that an Extraordinary General Meeting will be held in November, at which members will be asked to approve on an amendment to the FAI’s constitution, which is “designed to address the obstacles encountered to date and which improve the prospect, subject to Member approval, of achieving the 40% target.”
If that amendment is approved, the AGM will follow in December, at which a new president and vice president will be elected and the board’s football and independent directors ratified.
In the letter, members are warned that a failure to meet the quota would result in a 50% cut to State funding, along with a corresponding cut to any Sports Capital allocations. The potential cost of all of this is calculated at €4.3 million.
Voting members were invited to put forward candidates for the roles of president, vice president and football director to the board earlier this year, with the deadline for nomination on 7 September. All of those put forward for nomination were men, meaning the only means by which the FAI could meet their gender balance would be by appointing additional female independent directors.
The FAI board met to discuss the issue on 17 September, and the FAI say they decided they could not put the nominated members forward for election without first liaising with members, given the potential financial implications of missing the 40% quota.
In its letter to members, the FAI take issue with media reports of this meeting, saying it was not a case that the board “rejected” the names put forward, and that the decision was not made following a casting vote by president Gerry McAnaney.
The FAI today told members that the board decided to write to them to inform them of the issue, and extend the nomination deadline to encourage female members to be put forward. This communique was not immediately issued, as one of the FAI’s directors questioned whether they had the legal basis to extend the nominations deadline. The FAI say the board are satisfied the decision to extend this deadline is legally sound.
Following meetings on 27 and 28 September, the FAI board changed their approach, saying an extended deadline “was unlikely to result in any material change in the profile of candidates nominated and a different approach was called for.” The letter to members state the board considered formal and informal proposals from members, and have decided to propose an amendment to the FAI’s constitution to address the issue.
That wording has not yet been communicated to members, and has to be formulated by the FAI’s governance team and legal advisers. It must be approved by the board before it is circulated to members ahead of the vote at the EGM.