Statement from Tony Fitzgerald on behalf of FAI Board Tony Fitzgerald, President of the Football Association of Ireland spoke this evening on behalf of the FAI Board in relation to John Delaney, 26th Nov 2014
“Following recent coverage of the cyber bullying of his partner Emma and the fact that John has publicly apologised if he offended anyone for singing the nationalist song in question, we are happy to bring the matter to a close.
“The Board is more than pleased with the way John Delaney is running the Association. He has done an enormous amount for Irish football. In the past year alone the winning of EURO 2020 bid for Dublin adds to a number of very important developments he has helped oversee during his tenure. We recently awarded him a contract extension to 2020 and he is fully deserving of that.”
The above statement was posted to the FAI website at approximately 10.45 last night. I assume the time was chosen to ensure they avoided tomorrow’s newspapers but that is largely irrelevant. It isn’t just a case of the FAI brushing a mess under their carpet, more a case of them not knowing what the mess is.They have cleaned out the rabbit hutch while completely ignoring the elephant in the room.
The opening line is an immediate deflection of the issue at hand. Any cyber bullying which occurred is of no relevance to the Chief Executive Officer’s garnering of headlines, here and abroad, for his unprofessional behaviour. One could argue that his happiness at parading the relationship in gossip columns and magazines is what lead her to be such an easy target for internet trolls. There is of course no excuse for such actions and am aware of how upsetting this event must have been for Miss English, but should the partner of a member of staff really be name dropped in any official statement, in such an amical fashion?
Furthermore, the idea that the sole problem here is Mr. Delaney’s choice of song is diversionary in the extreme. I am aware that certain sections of the media, especially outside the Republic of Ireland, will find hypocrisy between Mr Delaney’s past seat on UEFA’s Body of Discipline and Control and his song choice, but it is evident to many here at home that the problems lay much deeper.
Well Mr Delaney may argue that he was singing amongst friends and is allowed to let off steam occasionally, I do not believe it is acceptable that a man in his position can be ever truly ‘off duty’. In fact, it was Mr. Delaney himself who pointed out that the job is ’24/7′. It also should be noted that this was not an ordinary night in a local bar in rural Waterford but post-match drinks, in a public house that is a mere stone’s throw away from the Aviva Stadium. Inside that ground, just a few hours before,a peaceful pre-match protest questioned the FAI leadership, specifically about the distribution of away tickets but there are other pertinent grievances, was met with unnecessarily strong policing from FAI security. Seeing as Mr Delaney has gone to great lengths to point out that he is happy to accept criticism on football related matters, perhaps he can apologise to those who were not allowed their freedom of expression and the right to criticise.
Mr. Fitzgerald also points out that the board are happy with how the CEO is running the association. I have no expertise in running any major organisation but had never heard of a CEO running any company or association single-handed. In fact a quick web search backs this up.
“A chief executive officer (ceo) is generally the most senior corporate officer(executive) or administrator in charge of managing a for-profit organization. The of a corporation or company typically reports to the board of directors and is charged with maximizing the value of the entity.The CEO generally reports to a Board of Directors. The CEO serves at the discretion of the Board of Directors. If the CEO is also the company founder and/or chief stock holder and owner, the Board of Directors is largely an advisory role.”
I would therefore like the FAI to provide some clarity here regarding the role of the board of directors within the association and indeed that of the CEO.
The FAI President goes on to praise his CEO for his achievements, especially that of securing Dublin’s place as a host city for Euro 2020. I too would like to offer my congratulations to all involved at the FAI, this is a massive feat for a country of our stature and is sure to whet the appetite of the Irish public. However, there are still other matters outstanding that have not been addressed. During the ‘Godfather of Irish football’s’ tenure the profile, UEFA coefficient and prize money of the FAI run national league, or the ‘problem child’, as he referred to it, have all dropped considerably. Many clubs lose money by simply entering a team in the league while others have had to drop out of senior football altogether during his reign. You may recall Monaghan United having to abandon Irish football’s Premiere Division during Euro 2012, around the time that the CEO was again making headlines for non football related matters.
Then there is the chaotic state of Irish schoolboy football where a complete lack of structure is severely hampering player development. The panacea prescribed for the ills of underage football a decade ago, the Emerging Talent programme, has made little difference. A quick glance at the birthplaces of players in our under 17 and under 19 national squads shows we are still overly reliant on our diaspora, essentially relying on other associations to develop our players. It seems a long time since Brian Kerr was bringing through a ‘golden generation’of Irish talent.
As I mentioned above I am no business expert so perhaps the FAI could explain to us laymen, the logic in offering such a lengthy contract extension to the man ‘running’ this operation. A man who in the past month has jeopardized the safety of Irish fans in Glasgow by refusing to accept responsibility on behalf of the FAI for ‘ticketgate’ and passing blame on to his Scottish counterparts. There has also been a failure to answer any of the questions put to Mr Delaney regarding ticket allocation, to go along with the heavy-handed stewarding at the USA match and the ‘singing in the Bath’ scandal.
One has to question why a football administrator has such a high-profile public persona, his peculiar search for adoration and celebrity through late night chat shows and that self promotional documentary that was so very Alan Partridge.
Apart from Irish Water due to their widespread media coverage, I don’t think I could name another CEO in the state and certainly not a member of any other sporting organisation. It makes me wonder if Oscar Wilde was right, as I cannot see how this type of publicity can be beneficial to Irish football at all.
No Greater Love 