Kenny concern following injury to McCarthy
Deputy CEO Quinn admits Government still hasn’t agreed to key amendments ahead of the EGM
JAMES McCARTHY’S Ireland return may be in doubt after the Crystal Palace midfielder hobbled off after 20 minutes of a pre-season friendly with Oxford United yesterday. Stephen Kenny will be praying the issue won’t prevent McCarthy from joining the Irish squad on Sunday ahead of the Nations League double-header. If the injury requires time, Kenny could turn to uncapped Jayson Molumby for his debut, while bringing another midfielder in for the games against Bulgaria and Finland. Meanwhile, Dundalk will today unveil their unconventional Italian management team after Filippo Giovagnoli was confirmed last night as the interim head coach, with Guiseppe Rossi as his assistant.
The duo were in Oriel Park yesterday where players were informed of double daily training sessions. ‘It’s my first experience at this level but if you know football and know what you are doing, then for me it’s just a different challenge. I am confident we are going to do a good job,’ said Giovagnoli. ‘A lot of people are sceptical but I am not afraid and when
I become part of a club, it becomes my family, and if it becomes my family, I will fight really hard to do well.’ Meanwhile, Niall Quinn, the deputy interim CEO of the FAI, says his future with the Association will become clearer after Monday’s EGM, where delegates will vote whether to accept reforms critical to the restoration of state funding.
FAI CHIEFS are in a race against time to secure the government exemption they seek to circumvent a cull of FAI Council members with 10 years’ service or more.
The Association is anxiously awaiting approval on a counterproposal that would defuse the radical Council overhaul included in the small print of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed off as part of January’s bail-out.
Instead, the FAI are seeking acceptance of an electoral code which would permit all prospective Council members to go forward for re-election.
Candidacy would not be determined by length of Council service but by a FIFA-approved process, akin to a fit and proper assessment.
The FAI’s interim deputy CEO Niall Quinn acknowledged last night the Association has yet to hear if its electoral code idea has been accepted by the key stakeholders, which include the government, Sport Ireland, Bank of Ireland and UEFA.
‘As of today it hasn’t been rubber-stamped,’ he said.
But the clock is ticking towards Monday’s EGM where the agenda includes voting on four rule changes, one of which relates to the MoU timeline on Council members with 10 years’ service.
If passed, FAI President Gerry McAnaney would be among those standing down next March.
The rule change regarding the casting vote on the board reverting to the President, McAnaney, from the Chairman, Roy Barrett, is expected to be approved by a huge margin.
The crucial vote is an acceptance by EGM delegates of the overall terms of the MoU which would free up €37m in state funding and keep the FAI’s credit line of €25m open with its banks.
Monday is a pivotal day for Irish football as the Republic of Ireland step up their preparations for the opening Nations League game in Bulgaria; the Europa League qualifying draw takes place along with the final two ties in the Extra. ie FAI Cup.
Six of the eight second-round ties are available on WATCHLOI, and Quinn, together with the new League of Ireland director Mark Scanlon, yesterday launched the Half-Season Pass
The cost for the rest of the season is €39, rising to €45 if overseas. Alternatively, fans can stream a game at a fiver per go.
So far, all of the games have been staggered over Fridays, Saturday and Sundays and that’s set to continue for the rest of the season.
‘It’s gone as well as a trial can at 27 days — the exposure the league has got has been excellent,’ said Quinn.
‘The reach has been good in terms of WatchLOI on social media, and increasing the brand awareness for clubs.
‘If clubs had just been relying on RTE and Eir to get a bit of exposure, and some of those clubs don’t get shown a lot, those clubs would have been way behind.’
Already, three weeks since the restart there have been over a million hits on WatchLOI, which shows the interest in live, competitive, football.
As for the take-up on viewing figures, Quinn was coy.
‘I don’t have the numbers, at this stage they are sensitive and will be given to the clubs first,’ he added.
‘What we do now is that it’s encouraging to the point where we’ll have a dividend for the clubs, in time.
‘It was never done as a silver bullet in Covid-19, it was done as a trial.
‘It’s a bit like a start-up company, how can we improve the model with investment?
‘What initially was an idea turned into a trial that is beginning to look like it will be an important part of the future.’
The FAI are awaiting word next week from the government on the possibility of a limited number of fans being allowed to be in attendance at SSE Airtricity League matches, or even Irish internationals.
‘We felt that come October, we would have crowds but as much as we want that, we have to do the right thing,’ said Quinn.
‘The government has been good to football.
‘We hope they will be good to us, even more after Monday. I think we’re desperate for the game to go into a better place for fans to come back but we just have to listen to orders.
‘We are trying to do what we can within the structure and the rules,’ said Quinn, who lives in Kildare and has only been permitted to leave the county as his work is deemed ‘essential business.’
With no guarantees Covid-19 will be banished by 2021, the FAI are planning for the ‘worst-case scenario’ in the centenary year of the Association.
‘You have to plan for it. In the worst-case scenario, games will be behind closed doors.
‘Internationally, we need the revenues that fans bring in, it makes life really difficult financially for the Association. It has to be planned for, too.’
“Exposure for the league has been excellent”
“We’re trying to do what we can within the rules”