FAI boss defends his salary

FAI chief executive John Delaney has defended his €400,000 salary, after he confirmed to the Association’s AGM in Ennis that he had taken voluntary reductions amounting to €50,000 in the last 12 months.

Delaney said that the FAI board didn’t want him to take the reduction in pay and that the decision to do so had been his alone. Yet, even after the pay cut, critics have pointed out that his remuneration is still almost double that of the Taoiseach’s.

“The board believe it’s justifiable,” he said in answer to media questioning following the AGM. “I work very hard and deliver for the Association to the best of my abilities. They didn’t want to reduce the salary, it’s something I did voluntarily last year and this year.”

Asked if he was comfortable receiving such a pay packet, the FAI boss replied: “I am. It went from €450,000 to €431,000 and will be around €400,000 now after latest reduction.”

FAI President Paddy McCaul had earlier defended the Chief Executive’s salary, telling the AGM: “As CEO, John Delaney has an unrivalled track record of delivery for the FAI. John’s remuneration reflects his unrivalled record of achievement, his absolute and total commitment to every strand of our game and his 24/7 365 days’ approach to the role of CEO.”

There were no questions from delegates on this or, indeed, any other matter, as the AGM passed off uneventfully. And this despite the fact that Delaney has confirmed that, on foot of its commitments to the building of the Aviva Stadium, the Association’s borrowings now stand at a hefty €50m. However, the chief executive assured the AGM the money will be repaid to the bank and the Association will be debt-free by 2020.

Despite the failure of the premium seat 10-year ticket scheme, which was launched with great expectation just as the recession was beginning to bite, Delaney told reporters on Saturday he remains confident that the Association will be able to meet its financial obligations while continuing to develop the game in Ireland.

“There are a whole series of different revenues to repay the debt,” he said, citing the new centralised UEFA TV rights deal — worth €40 million to the FAI over four years — as well as additional UEFA funding, reselling of the naming rights for the Aviva Stadium and resale of ten-year tickets (both in nine years’ time) and the possibility of Ireland qualifying for the expanded European Championship finals of 2016 and 2020.

“All these are additional revenues which we wouldn’t have had in the past,” he said. “You keep asking me, and I keep telling you: the debt will be cleared by 2020. You can keep asking me for 10 years — if I’m still here — but it will be cleared.”

Delaney also made clear that the Association is not budgeting for success on the part of Giovanni Trapattoni’s team. “If we qualify for the Euro finals it’s worth a minimum of €8m, but that would be additional revenue we are not banking on,” he said. “We don’t have to qualify for any tournament to clear debt by 2020.”

On other issues, Delaney reaffirmed that the FAI are in ongoing discussions with the FA regarding a visit by England to the Aviva Stadium, though the timing would depend in large part on whether Ireland end up paired with them in this month’s World Cup draw in Rio or even in a play-off for the European Championships. A friendly in February no longer appears in the running but, said the FAI boss: “England will come to the Aviva at some stage, whether for a competitive game or a friendly.”

There is also the possibility that Ireland and England could find themselves competing in a ‘Home Nations’ tournament in England in 2013.

“The proposal was put to us for a five-team tournament but it hasn’t advanced much over the last five or six months,” said Delaney. “However, we have agreed in principle to take part.”

The FAI boss added that if the tournament does go ahead it would mean the Carling Nations Cup would “take a back seat” until at least 2015. Despite its failure to capture the public imagination, the inaugural tournament in May made a profit, he said – “though not as much as we would have liked” – but, from a football point of view, he insisted that it had been “great preparation” for Ireland’s crucial 0-2 European Championship win in Macedonia.