BATTLE LINES DRAWN
Deep-rooted mistrust, problems with the structure of underage games and fate of League of Ireland all rapidly bubbling to the surface as titanic struggle lies ahead
Daniel McDonnell analyses the ‘titanic battle’ of old v new ahead for FAI
THERE IS a phrase in the letter that FAI Council member Nixon Morton sent to FIFA and UEFA that pretty much everybody involved in Irish football agrees on. The assertion that a ‘titanic battle’ lies ahead is undisputed. As Ireland tries to speed through the stages of the roadmap to emerge from Covid-19, it appears as though the FAI are hurtling towards their version of a ‘new normal’.
After years of silence in response to decisions from above, the ‘football family’ has belatedly found their voice. The challenge is to try and distinguish between the constructive critics and the empty vessels, the sincere concerns and the agendas.
Put simply, a pivotal period is on the horizon and the influential figures whose ascension to the top of the FAI has caused a stir are braced for more friction.
In a brief statement on Wednesday, the Abbotstown board led by independent chair Roy Barrett said they would be “proceeding with a strategy incorporating a planned restructuring of the Association, supported by the required constitutional reform”, adding that there was a commitment to the “highest standards of corporate governance” and a “willingness to engage in dialogue with any stakeholder with constructive input.”
These plans were formed long before Morton mailed all 79 Council members early on Monday morning, but the statement could only be interpreted as a response.
Morton has not replied to queries asking who he was representing in his submission to UEFA and FIFA where “We” was the prevailing term.
Delegate
The teacher was a new name to many involved in the elite end of the sport. He’s on the executive of the FAI Schools as their delegate to Council, and also has an association with the United Churches League where he played and was on the committee for Stedfast United alongside former FAI vice-president Noel Fitzroy.
Fitzroy was the newest member of John Delaney’s board when the walls caved in, and there was sympathy from the floor when he had to stand aside last year after the FAI voted through recommendations of the Governance Review Group (GRG).
It is known that former top table members have met to voice concerns about where the FAI is going but only Morton can confirm if their ruminations had any impact on his memo raising concerns about the terms in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) arising from January’s rescue package with Government and the banks.
Specifically, it dealt with the rise in independent directors on the board from four to six, the decree that Council members with 10 years of service should step aside this summer, and issues around the interim appointments of Gary Owens and Niall Quinn following on from Barrett’s appointment given that all three were members of Quinn’s ‘Visionary Group.’
Minister Shane Ross was central in forcing the stricter terms, citing a desire to “excise the old guard” and doubled down on those comments this week. But multiple sources have asserted that it’s not simply a clear-cut case of the old guard raging against the so-called ‘new FAI’.
The Irish Independent was contacted by a new Council member from outside Dublin who put their own slant on the four factions that exist.
It was summarised as:
(1) A new top table steered by independent directors with a strong Visionary Group presence;
(2) The Delaney old guard, some of whom think it’s a plot between the Barrett/Quinn group and the League of Ireland;
(3) Another surviving group who weren’t quite Delaney people but are suspicious of Ross and Quinn; and (4) A reasonably sized group of newcomers who are trying to figure out the other three.
The challenge for the new powerbrokers, amongst whom Barrett is undoubtedly the strongest voice, is to win over the rump that are open to change for the right reasons but just aren’t convinced they represent it.
A Government reshuffle is another variable, although senior civil servants in the Department of Sport are going nowhere when the minister changes.
Fianna Fail’s Marc MacSharry entered the fray this week as an alternative spokesperson of sorts. The term limits and independent director quotas have commanded the most attention, and it’s believed that the FAI hierarchy are sympathetic to complaints.
There is a possibility tweaks could be made before it is voted on at the next EGM, even if the overarching principles of the MoU will remain the same.
However, it’s understood that other areas of the MoU have also piqued the interest of independent observers that were asked to look at it.
There’s a clause which indicates the FAI can examine the role ‘if any’ the Council will have in future. Further reforms of that body are on the FAI’s list, but taking it out of the equation completely would be extreme.
Perhaps more pertinently, the FAI are also supposed to present the Minister with a list of the assets they own which could be disposed of. There is a feeling that FIFA would take a dim view of a Government having input in the sale of a football association’s assets.
Neither of these points were raised in Morton’s submission. That said, the FAI do have direct lines of contact to their overseas parent bodies, and are satisfied they are briefed on their intentions.
Morton’s dramatic claim that the FAI were in danger of becoming an outlier in the context of world football’s 211 member nations should be tempered by the realisation that North Korea are FIFA members too and their ‘outside forces’ likely go beyond a casting vote in a 6 v 6 debate. Clearly, the FIFA stance to government interference is more flexible than their statutes.
In response to the charge that the MoU moved the goalposts from what AGM attendees agreed last summer, the FAI hierarchy would argue that the debt picture had deteriorated considerably in the intervening period.
Put simply, it’s debatable if a solution to a €62m problem should be jeopardised by concerns around the exit date for lifetime blazers.
The Covid-19 crisis has intensified the need for further state assistance.
Hence, the conflict between placating the ‘football people’ and putting in measures that meet conditions to deliver increased state funding.
The GRG report introduced a committee system which has failed to inspire. Reports that former board members under Delaney were assuming roles alarmed Ross.
A relevant tale repeatedly cited revolves around the manoeuvring over the election of a chair for a sub-committee which was paving the way for an individual with no experience in the elite game taking a vital seat on the Football Management Committee.
The practice of filling committee seats with friendly faces goes beyond football politics, of course, but it’s an obstacle to FAI progress – constituents with noble intentions feel the only way they will be looked after is through back channeling.
Sceptics
Then again, the sceptics alarmed by the sudden ascent of the ‘Visionary Group’ are insinuating they’ve done something similar.
But the glass half full slant on their rise is that they can bring expertise to the table which is for the greater good. The judgement will determined by the style of leadership and how they deal with age old problems.
For all that Delaney had complete control, it was largely built on divide and conquer tactics. The independent directors at board level are – as one source puts it – speaking of tackling the “fiefdoms managing little portfolios of their own” rather than thinking in terms of the bigger picture.
Presenting fresh reforms that haven’t gone through a lengthy consultation process will likely lead to more complaints from the rank and file. But from the FAI end, there is optimism that some of their ideas will pleasantly surprise stakeholders that aren’t tied to a camp.
What is coming down the tracks? We will know more by the end of this month.
The FAI have moved to set up a committee between schoolboy football officials and League of Ireland counterparts to build understanding or clarify misunderstandings around issues with compensation top of the agenda.
This battleground will be at the centre of the football element of the strategy.
“They’ve been beating the s**te out of each other,” as one FAI source succinctly puts it. “There’s a mistrust of everybody.”
Introducing national underage leagues at U-13 and U-15 level caused disquiet and there is an FAI acceptance the process should have been handled better, although the conclusion is that the idea has basic merit and just needs to be better structured with gaps filled.
This requires investment, and the drive for state backing will be centred towards well-resourced grassroots structures that will manage development ‘from the cradle’ upwards through joined up partnerships rather than hundreds of different actors operating as islands.
It sounds great in theory, but will require a hard sell in practice. Academies
will still be centred around senior clubs, and the extent to which they are all committed to that is questionable.
Results of the underage international sides have helped Ruud Dokter to survive, even though the ‘new FAI’ are conscious the Dutchman is deeply unpopular with sections of the underage game. Other long-serving employees remain synonymous with the Delaney era, and this is a trickier element of the transition.
The FAI’s development officers are working off the impression that up to nine new positions will be created which will assign greater regional responsibility to successful applicants.
Meanwhile, the fate of the League of Ireland remains a thorny subject, with the reaction to the pandemic placing extreme scrutiny on Quinn.
The former Ireland player started well, impressing doubters that were unimpressed by the Visionary Group’s 2019 document, but the divisive talks around whether football can return behind closed doors have ended any honeymoon. Club officials have taken issue with the confident statements in media interviews relative to the substance of what they were hearing in private meetings.
A conference call with players and their representatives about the proposed return-to-play plan started off on the wrong note with three different sources involved in those talks all reporting concern at an opening gambit from the interim deputy CEO which was summarised as ‘We (FAI) don’t have to do this, but we will.’
Implication
Their view is that the FAI have a duty and any implication they are doing the league a favour is reminiscent of language under a previous regime.
The FAI newcomers would argue that the criticism is focusing too much on words when their actions demonstrate they are clearly trying to place the LOI to the forefront of what they do. And there’s a feeling that selected leaking from certain meetings is borne out of cynical intentions.
Expect all the stops to be pulled out to improve the financial package available as the deadline for a decision approaches. The further relaxing of restrictions should untangle aspects of the debate.
Demonstrating to UEFA there is a coherent plan in place for the domestic game will also help the efforts to stage international matches later in the year and the importance of that angle shouldn’t be underestimated.
In a curious way, while changing the senior manager used to function as a distraction to what was going on underneath, Stephen Kenny is secure having won over the board that inherited him.
They have bought into his vision, and allowed him get the staff he wanted, with a compensation deal worth around €40,000 thrashed out with Dundalk for their assistant Ruaidhri Higgins to join the backroom staff.
No financial decisions can be taken lightly, though, with delegate approval required to trigger the release of funds
Certainly, the key relationships for the FAI right now are with the external actors that can provide support, but they can’t lose sight of the internal diplomatic maze which is more complex than a straight split between old and new.
The grievances of Delaneyites can be easily discredited because of how badly the old system failed. But the success or otherwise of the new team will hinge on their ability to bring forward meaningful reforms that can sway the silent majority.
There’s a feeling that selected leaking from certain meetings is borne out of cynical intentions