Delaney a distraction? Isn't he always, says Keane

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

There have been calls for an investigation into the payment, which was given in the wake of the Thierry Henry handball which prevented Ireland from reaching the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

FIFA has said the money was a loan, which would have been paid back if Ireland had qualified for the 2014 tournament in Brazil.

Keane said that the controversy hasn’t been discussed between the management and players.

“We’ve not even discussed it,” he said.

“One or two chats with the staff, but when we’re chatting with the players it doesn’t come into it.

“What you’ll find with most players is once they’re getting paid on a regular basis by their clubs and they’re all, I’m sure, getting well looked after, as I said, I don’t think it’s a big issue with the players.”

The matter has attracted headlines around the world, but Ireland’s assistant manager Roy Keane said it was not distracting from action on the pitch.

Keane said: "I'm not going into the FIFA stuff. I'm here to work with the players and focus on the games coming up."

When asked whether John Delaney was proving to be a distraction after his confirmation of the FIFA payout, Keane laughed and said: "Isn't he always?"

Despite her lack of interest in football, Tánaiste Joan Burton admitted that she has been following the story.

“I’m not an expert, as you know, on anything to do with football, but it’s certainly a very intriguing story,” she said.

“Particularly the meeting where you walk in, have a few apparently hot words, and leave with €5m in your pocket!”

Former FAI chief executive Fran Rooney earlier called for ‘full disclosure’ from the FAI.

“It's a bad week to be answering these questions when we've a very important week ahead of us: we've the match against England on Sunday, and then a very important qualifier against Scotland,” he said.

“These are the issues we should be talking about - to be distracted by these off-the-field matters is not good, and it puts the FAI in bad light, that's being honest.”