IT’S A YEAR today since John Delaney and the FAI faced an Oireachtas Sport Committee meeting on governance issues at the football association.
The meeting was scheduled for earlier in the year but was postponed as Delaney had Uefa business he could not avoid. It eventually took place in a much-changed landscape for the FAI, amid the fall-out of the Sunday Times’ revelation that Delaney had given the FAI a cheque worth €100,000 in April 2017.
The FAI explained this was a “bridging loan” that was paid back in full months later. Nonetheless, controversy clung to the Association, and days before the meeting, Sport Ireland announced they had suspended state funding to the FAI as their not being made aware of the bridging loan broke the terms of funding.
During the meeting, Delaney read an opening statement in which he was precluded from answering any questions about the €100,000 loan and his time as Chief Executive, citing legal advice.
What followed was an hours-long televised meeting that captured the nation’s attention and became a seminal moment in turning the tide of public opinion against Delaney and the FAI board.
Delaney was placed on gardening leave five days later, and a year on, neither he nor any of the board members of that time remain on the FAI board.
How well do you remember a day of remarkable off-field theatre in Irish football?
