Billionaire O’Brien no longer bankrolling FAI
THE FAI will have to pay around €5million in wages from their own coffers for Martin O’Neill, Roy Keane and the remainder of the Republic of Ireland management team for the next two years. It follows confirmation by FAI chief executive John Delaney last night that billionaire businessman Denis O’Brien will no longer bankroll salaries of the senior team hierarchy. O’Brien came on board with the FAI in 2008 and his contribution, confirmed by Delaney to be in the region of €10m over 10 years, helped bankroll the appointment of Giovanni Trapattoni a decade ago and O’Neill in 2013. ‘At this juncture, we’re strong enough to stand on our own two feet’ insisted Delaney, who confirmed that the salaries of O’Neill, Keane and Co would come from FAI pockets. ‘For the medium term we will deal with managerial contracts out of our own funds,’ he continued. ‘We knew it would come to an end. It’s been a decade, it’s been fantastic. Denis has given funding of almost €10m so we can fund an international manager, ’ Delaney added, insisting that O’Brien’s decision to pull the plug didn’t impact on O’Neill delaying his contract extension in January. ‘No, it had nothing to do with it. Martin had agreed to stay with us,’ he confirmed. Delaney is adamant the
FAI are in a ‘stronger position to pay the type of salary the market determines’ now than they were 10 years ago. And he promised there would be positive news of a further reduction in stadium debt before this year’s AGM — the debt stood at €39m at last year’s AGM and Delaney has previously stated the debt will be clear by 2020. Delaney, who revealed the news to Newstalk, a radio station owned by O’Brien, felt the FAI were able to make ‘a statement’ by having the financial clout to approach managers of the calibre of Trapattoni and O’Neill. ‘When I met Martin O’Neill about the Irish job, the fact Trapattoni and Marco Tardelli had come before was positive. ‘Martin and Roy Keane, they are also big names in world football too but they also achieved. Trap got us to the Euros and Martin got us to the Euros just gone by.’ Delaney was reluctant to comment on the observations from Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill about the drain of his young players to the Republic of Ireland ranks. ‘I don’t want to talk about eligibility issue. I’ve always felt it’s the player’s choice should be respected. ‘You see that in many cases across Europe, you see Kosovans plays for Switzerland, Polish players play for Germany. ‘They’re the rules, that choice should be respected. ‘You’ll always lose or gain players, we lost Jack Grealish. It’s the player’s choice. If Jack Grealish decided to play for England, that’s his decision, if Shane Duffy decides to play for Ireland that’s his decision. Both should be respected.’