Hill to stand down as FAI chief at end of the month

JONATHAN Hill is stepping down as FAI CEO after threeand-a-half years.

Hill will depart on April 30 with an interim CEO to be announced in due course, followed by a structured search for a fulltime successor.

Hill, who succeeded John Delaney in November 2020, has been under increasing pressure following February’s calamitous appearance at the Public Accounts Committee.

FAI president Paul Cooke admitted that his confidence in his CEO had been “challenged” as Hill was grilled about payments he received last year in lieu of holidays not taken — a break of the association’s staff handbook.

That episode led to state funding of €6.8m being temporarily suspended with Hill having to repay some €20,000 in November, after Sport Ireland found that the payments put the association in breach of the terms set out in its 2020 bailout from the state.

The Englishman has kept a low profile since the disastrous appearance at the Dáil and, unusually, did not speak to the media or hold a press conference when Sky were unveiled as the new primary sponsor of the men’s team last month.

The FAI are set to finally confirm Stephen Kenny’s successor as manager later this week, a process Hill has led with director of football Marc Canham, but the CEO’S time at Abbotstown will now come to an end later this month.

“Since 2020, the FAI team and the wider football community have embraced what has been a radical transformation process for the Association and I’m proud of what has been achieved,” said Hill, who added: “I firmly believe that the future is bright for Irish football.”