Ian Mallon: FAI to introduce 'fit and proper' rules around ownership
A general view of the Football Association of Ireland Offices at the FAI National Training Centre in Abbotstown, Dublin. Photo by Matt Browne/Sportsfile
THE FAI is set to introduce stringent new rules around ownership of League of Ireland clubs.
Currently, there are no formal ‘fit-and-proper’ tests for potential owners of league sides, where anyone can effectively takeover a club without having to go through a formal interrogation process.
It’s expected the new ownership criteria will be in line with the FAI’s check system which investigates the suitability of all Board and Committee appointments at the Association, under its Integrity Assessment.
That code was introduced by the new regime at the FAI in 2019, under the chairmanship of Roy Barrett, where members are assessed based on their personal and business records.
Under the FAI Governance rules, members are checked through an Electoral Code which assesses candidates based on criminal, disciplinary and any previous investigatory processes which the person or his or her business interests may have been subjected to.
The system examines potential members who were employed by companies or organisations which were or are “the subject of any pending criminal or disciplinary proceedings or investigations (who) shall be deemed not to have passed the Integrity Assessment”.
Interestingly, the scope of that window through which a candidate can be investigated for impropriety was originally stated as being limited to the previous six years.
In a series of questions to the FAI about what mechanisms are in place to determine the credentials of any potential owners of LOI clubs the FAI revealed the changes.
“Rules around ownership of League of Ireland clubs are under review with plans to introduce new guidelines next season,” said a spokesperson for the association.
“Any change of ownership this season will (still) be subject to current licensing guidelines.”
There are claims that three LOI clubs could be put up for sale in the coming months. Before next season’s rules are in place, the FAI has depended on an ad hoc model of screening future owners and investors in League of Ireland teams.
Currently, there are no hard and fast rules about the length of time or commitment from new owners of clubs, which are only subject to vague FAI licensing guidelines, and it is difficult to see how such rules could by implemented for terms of ownership.
In previous years anyone buying a club was subjected to informal investigations and behind-the-scenes checks by league officers - with Uefa support - to determine criminality or other dubious practices.
In England, Premier League club owners must satisfy an ‘Owners and Directors Test’ which contains 28 different headings under ‘Section F’ of its EPL guidelines and rules – which mainly covers financial criteria.
That system has its own flaws which allowed for the takeover of Premier League clubs by Russian oligarchs and rogue nations.
THE Chief Executive Officer designate of the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland has been identified and will be announced in the coming weeks.
The powerful enforcer for higher standards across the industry will be formally unveiled by the Department of Justice in the coming weeks following a five-month global executive search.
Despite the extensive international search to find the right candidate, The Pitch understands that the successful appointee is Irish and does not have international experience in gambling regulation.
Minister of State at the DOJ James Browne had previously indicated to the Irish Examiner that he would prefer someone with experience, while Paddy Power founder and the now Stop Gambling Harm advocate, Stuart Kenny, said the Regulator needed to have “global expertise”.
However, the role as advertised before the March deadline declared that industry or regulatory experience was “not essential”.
It is not clear from which industry the new regulator comes from but Stuart Kenny previously warned that the appointment cannot be an internal or political appointee which would place a “danger of turning the regulatory office into another quango”.
Once in position, the ‘Regulator’ will have responsibility to establish a regulatory office in advance of new laws next year under the Gambling Regulation Bill.
The Department of Justice told The Pitch: “There is a pathway mapped for this legislation progressing which, with the cooperation of the Houses of the Oireachtas, will facilitate the Authority being established and operational in 2023.
“Last October, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform sanctioned the recruitment of the CEO Designate of the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, and the process is now in its final stages.
“An announcement is expected to be made in the coming weeks.”
It is understood that the CEO of the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland has accepted the role and has received Ministerial approval, with the only formality remaining – the exact timing for the announcement.
THE biggest question in Irish golf will be answered in the coming weeks, with confirmation of whether Leona Maguire will or won’t play in her home event at the Women’s Irish Open.
The tournament, which takes place over the third weekend in September at Dromoland Castle, Co Clare, is the first women’s open to take place in Ireland in a decade.
Organisers of the tournament are hoping that the country’s greatest ever female golfer will attend, and The Pitch understands some progress has been made in encouraging Leona over the line.
Maguire is sponsored by KPMG, who are also the sponsors of the Women’s Irish Open and who will try to exert any influence they can to get their star player at the tournament.
The issue appears to be purely down to a schedule clash with the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship at Pinnacle Country Club, one which is a key tournament in the qualification for the end-of-season Race to CME Globe shootout on the LPGA Tour.
However, Maguire is comfortably sitting in 13th spot overall, with the top 75 LPGA players qualifying for the tournament which has a $7m prize purse.
Preparations at Dromoland Castle are at fever pitch this week with fresh turf laying underway and a new course design layout completed for the tournament.
Mark Nolan, Managing Director of the resort described the adjustments to the course as “spectacular”.
Nolan told The Pitch that the redesigned 18th tee box and the backdrop of the 16th, 17th and 18th holes will provide a stunning visual and playing challenge for the reconditioned course.
Such is the profile of hosting such an international event at the golf club, that Mark Nolan explained that the “take-up of green fees has been quite dramatic” as golfers clamber to get a close look of the course at prior to the event.
The course will be handed over for final tournament build and preparation on September 1 while the collaboration with local council and the locality has combined to provide “a tremendous collect effort”.
“We’ve had a great response from our members who have volunteered as stewards in huge amounts, and together with Clare County Council and the wider community of Newmarket on Fergus the effort has been incredible,” said Nolan.
“This will be great showcase of golf and ladies golf, but a key part of it will also include arts and crafts, as well as food.”
