Mourinho condemns €5m FAI payment as ‘end of the world’
The rumbling controversy overshadowed yesterday’s 0-0 draw between the Republic of Ireland and England in Dublin, despite the release of documents on Friday showing the scope of the agreement drawn up by FAI and Fifa representatives in January 2010 when the loan was granted.
While there was some suggestion that government figures are becoming less supportive of FAI chief executive John Delaney, it is understood that Sports Minister Paschal Donohoe’s view has not changed since last Friday when he said Mr Delaney’s position was still tenable.
Last week’s revelation about the €5m loan from Fifa has drawn international criticism, with Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho the latest to condemn the payment.
In an interview with The Sunday Times he said: “This with the Irish Federation, this, for me, is the end of the world. Unbelievable. You change the truth of the game for €5m? What next? Because more stories will come for sure.”
Mr Delaney’s predecessor as FAI chief executive, Fran Rooney, again called for more detail of the loan agreement to be made public including to whom any cheque was payable.
Speaking on RTÉ radio, Mr Rooney also claimed that the FAI could have done more to highlight its opposition to Sepp Blatter’s tenure as head of Fifa, particularly in a vote in 2011 in which the Swiss was the only candidate.
The FAI did vote in favour of Blatter in that one-man ballot, but Mr Rooney said “they did not abstain or spoil their vote”, unlike many other football federations which did.
He said the revelations regarding the payment of the €5m had changed the public view of the FAI.
“We have never been perceived as someone who had their hand in the cookie jar, until now,” he said.
Mr Rooney also said the loan should have been explicitly recorded in the FAI accounts.
In response to questions a Fifa spokesperson said the loan was accounted for in Fifa’s finance report. “The confidentiality clause in the agreement has nothing to do with proper accounting,” the Fifa spokesperson said, adding that the loan had been approved by Fifa’s Finance Committee.
In any event, it seems the loan was only officially written off at the end of last year, meaning any details related to it may not appear until the FAI publishes those accounts. According to Fifa: “The terms agreed between Fifa and the FAI were that the loan would be reimbursed if Ireland qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
“Ireland did not so qualify. Because of this, and in view of the FAI’s financial situation, Fifa decided to write off the loan as per 31 December 2014.”
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