FAI consider a legal response as ‘mud sticks’
Players laugh at $10k claims as FAI threatens legal action
THE FAI last night denied extraordinary al l e g a t i ons from Argentina that Irish players each accepted an €8,900 bribe in return for not hurting Lionel Messi in a showpiece friendly in Dublin five years ago.
And the FAI has also refuted claims that the match in August 2010 to mark the opening of Aviva Stadium was part of a deal struck with FIFA president Sepp Blatter to compensate Ireland for their controversial World Cup play-off defeat to France nine months earlier.
Those claims hold little water considering the fact the game was announced on May 31, 2009 — six months before the play-off game.
Thierry Henry’s infamous handball contributed to the winning goal that denied Ireland a place at the 2010 tournament in South Africa, and earlier this month the FAI admitted they subsequently accepted a €5.1m inducement from FIFA to drop any threat of legal action.
A report in La Nacion claims that the late Julio Grondona, president of the Argentina FA and a senior FIFA vice-president, suggested to Blatter that Argentina play in Dublin as part of the pact.
Barcelona were said to be reluctant to release Messi from their pre-season tour of Asia to play in the game and Argentina could not afford the £3m insurance premium to cover their star player.
It is alleged that Grondona, who died last year at the age of 82 but has since been implicated in the FIFA corruption scandal, thought it would be cheaper to pay Irish players $10,000 each ‘not to hit Messi’.
Claims that they accepted bribes to go easy on the four-time World Player of the Year have been vehemently denied by several members of the Ireland team who played that day, including winger Keith Fahey, Irish Mail on Sunday columnist Kevin Kilbane, defender Richard Dunne and striker Cillian Sheridan, when contacted by Sportsmail.
‘There was no suggestion around the game that we were to stay clear of Messi and, of course, none of the players received money as payment regarding this,’ said Kilbane.
‘It’s news to me and I’m sure it’ll be news to the other lads as well. To us, it was a big occasion. It was the opening of the Aviva and it was a great game to be part of. It was going back to Lansdowne Road.
‘Someone has come up with a theory — two and two makes 10, I suppose — and that’s the only thing I can think of regarding it. I totally refute it, totally deny it.
‘It’s quite poor. There have been a lot of allegations over the last month or so aimed at us. Mud sticks and it’s not nice when these sort of allegations are being brought against the players.
‘It’s basically questioning us as professionals, it’s questioning us as people as well. I certainly didn’t take any money regarding this.’
Argentina won the game 1- 0 through a disputed first-half goal from Angel Di Maria, and Messi played for 58 minutes before he was substituted by Ezequiel Lavezzi.
The FAI were last night taking legal advice over the allegations after issuing a statement claiming that the match was arranged before they lost the World Cup playoff to France in November 2009.
It read: ‘ The FAI completely refutes the allegations made about the Republic of Ireland v Argentina friendly match in La Nacion as baseless. The match in question was organised by Kentaro and announced by press release prior to the World Cup play-offs in 2009. We are consulting our legal advisers in relation to the article, and will be taking further steps.’
It’s the second time in a matter of weeks that the FAI have been dragged into a controversy. Amid the scandal engulfing FIFA, it emerged that Delaney had struck what he described as ‘a very good and legitimate deal’ with Blatter over the issue of Henry’s handball
which was missed by Swedish referee Martin Hansson and his assistants when France won 2-1 on aggregate in Paris.
FIFA claimed the payment was a loan towards the building of the Aviva which was later written off by prior agreement when Ireland failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup.
Grondona, a Blatter ally and former FIFA finance committee chairman, has been accused of approving a $10m payment to a bank account controlled by ex-FIFA vice-president Jack Warner in 2008.
“I certainly didn’t take any money... I deny that totally”
FORMER Republic of Ireland midfielder Keith Fahy has branded reports that Ireland players were paid $10,000 not to tackle Lionel Messi in a 2010 friendly as ‘ridiculous’, with the FAI dismissing the accusations as ‘baseless’.
The extraordinary allegations were made in a South American newspaper which claimed that each of the Ireland players was paid handsomely by former Argentine FA president Julio Grondona not to injure the Barcelona star during the Aviva Stadium opening celebration five years ago.
Midfielder Keith Fahey, who played in the game which marked the first soccer international at the redeveloped ground, rubbished the claim made