DELANEY: I AM READY TO WALK AWAY
Soccer chief confides in pal he’s set to quit over €100k furore
JOHN Delaney has told a close friend he will step down from his role with the FAI.
Kerry District League Secretary John O’regan said he received a message yesterday evening from the former FAI chief stating he was quitting.
He told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “John sent me a text message at about 5.30pm saying he is stepping down.
“To be honest I’m disappointed and a little annoyed. He made a bridging loan of €100,000 and paid it back
soon after – I don’t know what he did wrong to be honest.
“At the end of the day he’s only human – John’s a good friend of mine.”
The FAI has not commented on Mr O’regan’s claim and yesterday said no official statement would be issued.
Sources said that, as of last night, John Delaney is still the Executive Vice-president of the Association.
Speculation mounted throughout yesterday the 51-year-old was about to step down.
Mr Delaney came under fire from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on Friday over the €100,000 loan to the association. This followed his failure to answer questions about the money he lent when he appeared before the Oireachtas sports committee on Wednesday.
It was reported there was a high-level board meeting at FAI HQ at Abbotstown in West Dublin yesterday – however the Irish Sunday Mirror has learned there was just one member in attendance.
The FAI has had half of its €2.7million funding from Sport Ireland suspended in the wake of the storm.
Sponsors Three and New Balance called on the FAI this week to implement all recommendations from the Grant Thornton and Mazars reviews.
In a statement Three said: “Corporate governance is of utmost importance at Three and we expect the same from all partners we work with.”
A New Balance spokesman added: “We note with interest the FAI has commissioned various reports to review recent financial and corporate governance matters and we urge it to implement all recommendations.”
Sponsor SSE Airtricity said it is monitoring developments while Bus Eireann will continue to review its association. Meanwhile, it emerged Sinn Fein TD and former Cork City chairman Jonathan O’brien was ejected from Turner’s Cross on Friday following a protest against the FAI during the Cork City versus St Patrick’s Athletic match. The politician was escorted out of the ground by gardai but was later allowed to return. Cork fans held up a protest banner against Mr Delaney, inset, in a stand named after his father Joe. There were also protests at matches in Sligo, Dublin and Donegal on Friday night. news@irishmirror.ie