Sweeping changes in FAI needed

SWEEPING changes in the way the Football Association of Ireland runs its affairs are recommended by independent consultants who investigated the World Cup debacle in Saipan.

Lashing the association's approach, the consultants said: "In general there is not a culture of discipline in the management of the FAI, with most basic management disciplines non-existent."

The report slammed the absence of any management of high performance by the FAI other than that delivered by the senior team and other team management.

It was more luck than effective management practice that the outcome of the World Cup for Ireland was positive on the field, said Genesis management consultants which carried out the review.

In a damning indictment of the FAI set-up, the report stated: "The voluntary leadership and professional management structures of the FAI are designed to govern football domestically, and do not address the needs of the international team competing as it does at the highest level."

The consultants said the management of the crises which emerged before and during the World Cup "left a lot to be desired". They said there was little effective communication with stakeholders.

But the report also stated: "A new beginning is open to the FAI as a result of the crises in 2002, if it wishes to grasp that opportunity."

The review suggested the FAI, to compete successfully and exploit the current growth in football as sport and business, needs to modernise and professionalise the leadership and management of the sport.

It recommended over the next six months a key management team be put in place. The senior appointments should include a chief executive, with four directors responsible for performance, football operations, marketing and communications, and finance and administration.

Reviewing the World Cup build-up, the consultants found the FAI's overall planning inadequate. The size, scale and possible impact of the event were underestimated, they said. Both team management and a group of individuals were "working almost in isolation from the FAI."

While the scope and complexity of the activity carried out by the FAI had grown significantly over the last decade, "little has changed in the governance and management of the association over that time," the report stated.

The FAI's World Cup working group was inexperienced and too informal in its set-up and operation.

"No formal learning was captured from previous major tournaments, or deployed to benefit the planning of this tournament," the report said. It recommended the team travels to fixtures separately from the media and use a separate hotel from media personnel. It noted the English FA situation where no journalists or officials are allowed to travel with the team.