FAI leaves players’ body ‘astounded’ by fund move

THE FAI has defended the decision to announce plans for a €300,000 fund covering wage disputes in the League of Ireland without consulting the players’ union that it hopes would provide 50pc of the funding to bring the idea to fruition.

Abbotstown officials say they wanted to send out a message to players and clubs after a turbulent month dominated by wage disputes at Bray and Limerick, with tensions flaring between the FAI and the players’ representatives in the Professional Footballers’ Association of Ireland (PFAI) over the threat of strike action.

On Wednesday evening the FAI released plans to set up a fund that would provide security in the event of payment problems, with the financing for the benevolent fund shared between the governing body and the PFAI. The union said it was “astounded” by the FAI’s decision to announce the initiative without consulting it.

While it was supportive of the thinking behind the plan, PFAI general secretary Stephen McGuinness feels the money should be put up by the FAI as players should not be contributing towards a fund that would pay their own wages if their employers weren’t able to.

However, the FAI defended its conduct, with chief executive John Delaney referring questions on the subject to League of Ireland chief Fran Gavin in a media briefing. Mr Gavin said the FAI’s statement was about getting a message out to the players that it wanted to support them and he believed the PFAI did have the means to stump up half of the cost.

“The only matter here is that the players get paid and get comfort going forward. That’s what we’ve done, that’s what we’re trying to do and we await a response from the PFAI.”

Mr Gavin – who served as the head of the PFAI before joining the FAI – said it was his brief to deal with the union and he stood over the decision to release the statement on Wednesday without talking to Mr McGuinness and his officers.

“They’re fully aware of the protocol,” said Mr Gavin. “It (statement) makes sure the players know that the FAI is trying to make sure there’s comfort going forward and to the clubs ‘here’s what we’re doing, here’s the commitment from the board and we await a response from the PFAI’.”

In a statement, the PFAI said: “The idea that we would match the contribution of the FAI, an organisation with a multi-million euro turnover, when our organisation has a tiny fraction of its size and turnover, is mind boggling.”