John Delaney could be called before an Oireachtas committee to explain how FIFA’s controversial €5m loan to the Football Association of Ireland remained under the radar.

The head of the FAI John Delaney is expected to face a Dáil committee over FIFA's €5m loan to the Irish footballing body.

John O’Shea has said that the Irish players were never interested in monetary compensation for their failure to reach the 2010 World Cup following the Thierry Henry handball incident in the play-off game in Paris in 2009.

Former Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has claimed Sepp Blatter offered him "a way to forget" what had happened in the aftermath of the infamous Thierry Henry handball.

The FAI has said a €5m payment from FIFA was accounted for in its financial statements for 2010.

The Football Association of Ireland has issued details of the Fifa €5m payoff, while its board maintains it acted at “all times in the best interests of Irish football, and in full compliance with Irish company law”.

Roy Keane insists that the Fifa/FAI controversy is not impacting in any way on Ireland’s preparations for tomorrow’s friendly against England and next Saturday’s Euro qualifier against Scotland.

And so the ‘Hand Of Gaul’ turned into the ‘Hand-Out Of Gaul’.

There was a large contingent of second-generation Irish present at Anfield in December 1995 for the Euro play-off against the Netherlands.

Sports law experts have openly queried how any FAI legal action over the French ‘handball’ goal in the 2009 World Cup play-off would have succeeded — despite it resulting in a €5m payment from world governing body Fifa.

The FAI believe the timeline proves they acted in the “best interests of Irish football, and in full compliance with Irish company law.”

“But I would say that any questions that need to be answered here in the interests of transparency and accountability ... John Delaney should answer and will answer all of those questions, I’m quite sure.”

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said that the news of a €5m FIFA payout to the FAI is "quite extraordinary".

Roy Keane has laughed off questions about the FAI's €5m payout from FIFA.

The former head of the FAI has called on the association to give "full disclosure" of the €5m it received from FIFA.

Calls have been made for an investigation into “arbitrary” FIFA payments after the world governing body admitted paying the Football Association of Ireland US $5 million as compensation for the infamous Thierry Henry handball in a World Cup play-off.