FAI admits to ‘regret’ over O’Neill comments

THE FAI has acknowledged ‘regret’ in its submission to FIFA after the world governing body initiated disciplinary proceedings against Martin O’Neill and James McClean following the World Cup qualifier against Austria. O’Neill and McClean, who were both openly critical of Spanish referee David Fernandez Borbalan after the 1-1 draw in Dublin, will know their fate after FIFA disciplinary chiefs meet on July 20. FAI chief executive John Delaney yesterday stopped short of throwing O’Neill and McClean at the mercy of FIFA, but he hinted at a level of collective FAI repentance for the peppery post-match remarks. ‘I think our submission is very much based on people would regret what was said,’ he said. ‘I think that’s a pretty fair position for everybody, be it Martin (O’Neill), be it James (McClean) and be it the Association as well.’ While O’Neill could face touchline censure and McClean a possible ban for the next qualifier in Georgia on September 2, Delaney is seeking leniency. ‘You hope that it’s not matches. I don’t personally think it (the offence) deserves games,’ he said. With a little over three months before the end of the qualifying campaing, Delaney has yet to open talks with O’Neill and his assistant Roy Keane over a new deal to continues at the Republic of Ireland helm through to the 2020 European Championships. ‘They’ve done really well but

MANCHESTER CITY fear they may be stuck with Samir Nasri and it could cost them £25million. The £120,000-a-week midfielder, 30, who is currently on loan at Sevilla, is surplus to requirements at City and the subject of a Uefa probe into an alleged breach of doping rules. If he is banned, City could be lumbered with paying £12.5m in wages to a player who cannot play and who has two years left on his contract, while also missing out on a potential £12m transfer fee. The investigation was launched after an incident last December in which Nasri appeared to use an intravenous drip at a Los Angeles intravenous therapy clinic, ‘Drip Doctors’. Nasri could face a ban of up to four years, although two is thought to be more likely. The Spanish Agency for the Protection of Health in Sport initially launched a probe, which Sportsmail understands is now being handled by Uefa. Such treatments are banned by the World AntiDoping Agency unless administered in quantities of no more than 50 millilitres per six-hour period, or when a certificate of special dispensation has been obtained. Nasri (above) would have needed a Therapeutic Use Exemption but whether he had one is unclear.