Action needed now

Bray chairman says Government must act to save FAI

BRAY WANDERERS chairman Niall O’Driscoll has accused the government of demonstrating little to no knowledge of Irish football in their dealing of the Football Association of Ireland’s financial crisis, while insisting that the Airtricity League needs to be separated from the national governing body.

O’Driscoll said that the recent meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport, called to discuss the FAI’s problems, exposed the state’s lack of understanding of the sport in the country, and that he believes the domestic professional league is in grave danger should the situation persist.

‘What the Oireachtas did Wednesday was show that the Government hasn’t a f**king clue what is going on. I don’t care what anyone says, this is Shane Ross on a crusade, and he doesn’t understand this game,’ O’Driscoll told the

‘I have some serious concerns about the viability of running national league football in the current environment, absolutely.’

On Wednesday, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross chaired the Oireachtas Committee to discuss the ongoing struggles within the FAI, as well as the potential knock-on ramifications that the governing body’s predicament may have on the League of Ireland.

Minister Ross admitted that it was his ‘guess’ that the league would go under should the FAI suffer the same fate, while also revealing that the association had requested a bail-out of €18 million from the state, having disclosed net liabilities of €55 million during the release of accounts from 2017 and 2018.

Meanwhile, Brendan Griffin – Minister of State for Transport, Tourism and Sport – failed to say whether he was ‘1,000 per cent certain’ if the loss of the domestic league, in the event of the collapse

Wicklow/Bray People.

Bray Wanderers majority owner Niall O’Driscoll speaks to the media after the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division match between Bray Wanderers and Cork City in July. O’Driscoll says the Irish Government needs to step up now to rescue the situation with the FAI.

of the FAI, would lead to Ireland losing the chance of fielding a national team at any age grade, despite that very rule being stipulated in the UEFA statutes.

This all comes in the wake of a whirlwind year for the FAI; a year that started in April with the revelation that the then-chief-executive of the association, John Delaney, had given it a €100,000 bridging loan.

Since then, Delaney has been forced to resign from his position within the association in September, while President Donal Conway stepped away in December. All the while, Minister Ross cut off funding

to the FAI, describing the organisation as a ‘financial basket case’.

Speaking about the ongoing crisis, Niall O’Driscoll -- who became chairman and co-owner of Bray Wanderers in 2018 -- said that the entire fiasco was a ‘cluster-f**k’, before criticising the amount of government funding allocated to greyhound racing -- €16 million a year – compared with grassroots soccer -- €2 million.

‘At the end of the day, what is there to bail-out here? Whether it is 15 or 20 million, it doesn’t matter. Billions, we spent on banks. How much do we spend on the health

of our children? They give greyhound racing and horseracing over €10 million, yet they give €2 million to kids who play this sport.

‘How much are we going to spend on the healthcare system in 20 years if these kids don’t have exercise?’

Following on from the comments of Shane Ross in the Oireachtas, fears have been expressed concerning the status of the national league in the face of the FAI’s persisting troubles, which were echoed by O’Driscoll, who also offered a thinly-veiled criticism of the proposed splitting

of the association.

‘The whole thing collapses (if the FAI goes under). You can’t collapse a single bit of this. This is all or nothing. UEFA or FIFA don’t give out a franchise in bits. They give it out to one. The reality is that the knock-on effect is huge.

‘We need to think about the kids. Every kid plays multiple sports in Ireland, which is unique, but this is about whether it might be the time for the State to start funding it properly. If you look at Sport Ireland, they’re charged with managing the (Local Sport Partnerships). Whether you like it or not, they’re failing miserably here.

‘We all know what was going on (in the FAI). The bottom line is that it needs to be cleaned out, completely. That is my view. I think the national league should be separate but connected to the FAI.

‘I think the schoolboys need to come together. 27 local organisations. That’s ridiculous. There should be one. You look at the state of schoolboy football in Wicklow, for example. It’s appalling.

‘You talk about facilities. County Wicklow has hardly three or four all-weathers in it. You have Greystones, Arklow, Enniskerry, and Wicklow Rovers. You have four all-weathers in the whole county. It’s scandalous!

While he acknowledged the fears that exist within the footballing community in Ireland, O’Driscoll opted to see the silver lining, insisting that: ‘Football will exist, even if it is just two teams playing a game. I have no doubt about that.

‘I do think the government needs to step up. How long are they going to go on blaming? We all know who to blame. They couldn’t jail the bankers; they have no chance of jailing these fellas.’

O’Driscoll’s sentiments echoed those expressed in a statement released by Bray Wanderers on Friday morning, which stated that all those involved in resolving the ongoing conflict has failed.

‘It is wrong what has gone on in Irish football and hopefully those accountable will be held to task in all quarters,’ the statement read.

‘The majority of agencies, regulators, Government and key stakeholders knew there were issues but failed to act over the years – stop pretending we thought it was always great!

‘We all know the consequences……Don’t deprive us of international football for all ages, disabilities, etc.; our clubs of European football; our communities of clubs; our children’s dreams in the clubs they play for. Remember, they are our friends, mums, dads, sons, daughters, grandchildren, etc. We ask everyone to stand up and fight for this game…..now!’