An on-the-ball Cooke is right man to save joke FAI from itself
THE FAI has to be the biggest joke of a sporting organisation ever established in this country.
For years people used to say that the GAA was an amateur sport run by professionals and that soccer was a professional sport run by amateurs.
Well I can tell you after the shenanigans of the past few weeks, things haven’t changed.
The resignation of its Chief Executive Jonathan Hill and the continuing failure to appoint an international manager has made the Republic of Ireland the laughing stock of the soccer world.
The appointment of Hill was supposed to be the start of a new era of openness, good governance and accountability, after the 14-year controversial reign of the previous boss John Delaney.
John, of course, was an extremely charming and clever individual who I knew fairly well.
He ran the FAI like his own personal fiefdom and anyone who questioned or challenged his lavish salary, expenses or decisions from inside the organisation was banished to the sidelines and removed from any position of authority.
There was a long list of people who fell out with Delaney.
But he was only pushed out after the FAI was skint and needed State funding to survive.
The Government wanted Delaney out and the implementation of a long list of much-needed corporate changes to bring the FAI into the 21st century if it was to
continue paying it millions of our hardearned cash. The daggers were drawn and the revelation that Delaney gave the FAI a bridging loan of €100,000 to pay its bills eventually led to his downfall.
No individual should be bigger than the organisation.
But his successor Hill struggled to bring in a new sponsorship deal, didn’t honour his commitment that he would reside in Dublin and had strained relations with many of the existing staff.
But he, like senior executives in RTE before him, had a nightmare when he was summoned to answer questions and testify before the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee.
He had received an €11,500 payment in lieu of untaken holidays which was against company rules and the politicians had a field day.
FAI President Paul Cooke even admitted his confidence in Mr Hill had been challenged and so the writing was on the wall and then the CEO eventually quit.
There seems to be so many factions within the FAI who seem to be permanently at war. The blazers have put their
He needs now to grab the organisation by the scruff of the neck
own power and influence above the greater good of soccer in Ireland.
But the collective failure of the sports governing body to find a replacement for Stephen Kenny is appalling.
Every few days a big announcement was coming but it never materialised.
By this stage they had spoken to so many candidates they could field two football teams with them.
Either the FAI won’t pay the proper salary for an international manager or nobody wants it.
In fairness to Delaney he knew how to get a deal or the appointment of a manager over the line. Things have gone from bad to worse on the pitch since he left and that is shameful. The FAI has to now go back to basics and start again. Its President Cooke is one of the good guys.
He speaks his mind, is honourable but most importantly as honest as the day is long. He needs now to grab the organisation by the scruff of the neck, put in a visionary CEO and find the cash to get this country a decent manager for our beloved national team.
We also need massive investment in the League of Ireland, Government financial support to improve all our club stadiums and to rebuild the soccer brand from the bottom up. Both the FAI and the Government need to start taking the League of Ireland seriously. I was lucky to live through the glory days of the 1988 Euros, Italia 90 and the 1994 World Cup in America and they were the greatest of times.
If the FAI can finally get its act together we can have those days back again. It is not too late to save the FAI from itself.