O’Keeffe: World Cup Final ticket furore ‘merely a sideshow’
TD SAYS FURORE OVER WORLD CUP FINAL TICKETS IS ‘MERELY A SIDESHOW’
CORK East TD Kevin O’Keeffe has said the issue of him getting tickets for last year’s World Cup soccer final in Russia was “merely a sideshow” and should not distract attention from enquiries into financial and governance practices at the FAI.
Deputy O’Keeffe’s attendance at the match has made headlines this week after it emerged he had asked former FAI chief John Delaney to source tickets for the match for him and a guest.
This is in light of the fact that Deputy O’Keeffe, who is the Fianna Fáil spokesperson on sport, is deputy chair of the Oireachtas Sport Committee that will next month question FAI representatives, including Delaney, over financial and governance issues within the association.
“I did nothing wrong. All I did was get tickets for a once-in-alifetime soccer match through proper channels and paid the full price. Anyone else would have done the same,” he said.
CORK East TD Kevin O’Keeffe has said the issue of him getting tickets for last year’s World Cup soccer final in Russia was “merely a sideshow” and should not distract attention from inquires into financial and governance practices at the FAI.
Deputy O’Keeffe’s attendance at the match has made headlines this week after it emerged he had asked former FAI chief John Delaney to source tickets for the match for him and a guest.
This is in light of the fact that Deputy O’Keeffe, who is the Fianna Fáil spokesperson on sport, is deputy chair of the Oireachtas Sport Committee that will next month question FAI representatives, including Delaney, over financial and governance issues within the association.
Speaking to The Corkman this week, Deputy O’Keeffe reiterated his view that he had done nothing wrong in asking Delaney to source the tickets for the match, pointing out that he had stumped up €1,806 for them.
“I know that I did nothing wrong. All I did was get tickets for a once-in-a-lifetime soccer match through proper channels and paid the full price for them, for travel to the game and for accommodation when in Moscow. Anyone else would have done the same thing,” said Deputy O’Keeffe.
“There has been a lot of media hype around this issue, and I feel that it has become merely a sideshow to bigger issues within the FAI that will come under the spotlight next month. This should be more about the internal workings of the FAI and not Kevin O’Keeffe,” he added.
He said that his interactions with John Delaney did not mean that he was in any way compromised as a member of the Oireachtas committee.
“Not at all, and to suggest otherwise is completely ridiculous. There would have been no issue about getting these tickets, which I reiterate I paid for, if I was not a member of the committee,” said Deputy O’Keeffe. “On the day of the committee meeting, I will have my own questions about governance and management structures within the FAI. People have a right to know what has been going on there, and I for one will not baulk when it comes to seeking out the truth and if it any improprieties are found investigating them fully and judiciously,” he added.
Just days ago, John Delaney sensationally quit his €360,000-a-year role as CEO of the FAI in the wake of controversy over his 2017 €100,000 loan to the association to help them get over a short-term cash-flow issue. The money was subsequently paid back within a matter of weeks.
Mr Delaney had failed in a High Court bid to get an injunction preventing The Sunday Times from running a story detailing the loan. It was also reported that the FAI had been paying the €3,000-per-month rent on a house in Wicklow that Mr Delaney had been living in for a number of years, something that the FAI has refused to comment on.