Potential is vast with sound FAI leadership
LOTS of little absurdities bob around the greater torrent that is, at long last, flooding through Irish soccer.
The headline issues remain the story, and the demand for answers to questions raised by the €100,000 loan, and how it was subsequently managed, is not lessened by the departure of the old, failed regime.
But there are side stories and sub-plots that also speak to the dysfunction and the mismanagement that has landed Irish soccer in its greatest crisis in at least a quarter of a century.
One of the really daft ones was part of the drama on Saturday evening, when news of John Delaney’s fate began to emerge.
A fear that his leaving the FAI could damage Ireland’s influence at UEFA was reported as one of the brakes on his removal.
Even in the throes of this dysfunctional circus, that concern was ridiculous. The FAI, a laughing stock in their own country, were worried that jettisoning Delaney would harm Ireland’s international influence.
This was the most preposterous over-estimation of a body’s importance since the Skibbereen Eagle warned in an editorial at the end of the 19th century that they were keeping an eye on Russia.
Losing influence at UEFA might, just might, be a price worth paying if it results in the change needed to restore the FAI’s vaporised credibility.
Having a say in European and world soccer should not be distracting anyone at the FAI for a very long time.
Being part of a joint bid for the 2030 World Cup should, similarly, be forgotten about until domestic affairs are reordered.
The FAI shouldn’t fret about being players on the world stage. Becoming something other than a reliable punchline in Irish life must be a more pressing demand on their time.
Six days on from the shameful performance of Delaney in front of an Oireachtas committee, change is dropping very, very slowly within Irish soccer.
That it is coming at all is revolutionary, given the length and nature of Delaney’s tenure.
More details about how he ruled, and how he utilised the benefits that attend high office in Irish sport, dominated the past 48 hours, and they added to the push for change.
But the extraordinary expenses he enjoyed were mere details in a story that already demanded his departure.
The cull shouldn’t start and end at his door, though; a board exposed as hopeless in the aftermath of the loan story needs changing, too.
And soon, new leadership in the FAI is going to have to plot a way back to credibility. It will be a daunting job, but the extent of soccer’s popularity in this country will also equip whoever sucin ceeds Delaney and the board with vast reserves of potential.
If soccer is properly managed, then in a generation’s time it will not be the leadership of the FAI that is feeling uncomfortable, but the GAA and the IRFU.
Gaelic games and rugby have thrived to unprecedented extents over the past generation, thanks to rigorous organisation, vibrant commercial operations, and hugely successful competitions.
In that same timeframe, relations between the leadership of the FAI and the League of Ireland clubs turned wretched, and qualification for two major tournaments provided no lasting bounce popularity for the national team.
Once Ireland’s darlings, they have been eclipsed as heroes by rugby players and Dublin footballers.
Were soccer’s potential properly harnessed, though, the rival field sports would be confronted with a powerful rival in the competition for new recruits and commercial partnerships.
The success of Ireland in Mick McCarthy’s first home match, against Georgia at the end of March, hinted at how things could be again.
For too long, the Irish soccer story was dominated by an administrator who had no business in headlines, on chat shows or courting the affection of fans.
It must be about the players, both domestically and in the national side.
The executive leadership that takes over in the FAI must not busy itself with traipsing up every boreen and side street in the country with new nets and a bag of balls.
There are elected officers who should carry out those duties. The chief executive and his staff should have strategic and commercial issues with which to concern themselves.
None of this stuff is revolutionary. And as the FAI delegation recounted at any opportunity before that Oireachtas committee, much good work is done every day and night of the week with teams all over the island.
That is as it should be: any properly functioning sport is run for the benefit of its members, and delivering to them is the job of the leadership.
That shouldn’t result in a demand for praise; it’s simply getting on with it.
And if Irish soccer starts to do that, its potential is vast.
For that to happen, forget about influence with UEFA and FIFA. Jet-setting should not be on the mind of anyone in the offices of the FAI beyond teams and their management. All the other staff should be directed towards saving an organisation that has surely never been so low.
They are a laughing stock today. Tomorrow is up to them.
“The cull should
not end at Delaney’s door”
“New leaders
must plot a path to credibility”