Noel Mooney ‘extremely unlikely’ to seek role as next FAI CEO

Noel Mooney hasn’t ruled out seeking to become the next CEO of the FAI, though he has described the prospect as “extremely unlikely”.

However, he says he does believe he is “absolutely the right person” to lead the organisation through its current period of crisis and transition.

As the association’s general manager, the former Cork City goalkeeper is on a full-time, six-month secondment from Uefa — an appointment which has drawn criticism from Sports Minister Shane Ross, who has repeatedly charged that the Limerick man, as a former FAI employee, is too closely associated with the old regime.

Asked yesterday if he would consider staying on as the FAI’s new CEO, Mooney replied: “You would have to apply for the role and you would have to feel that it’s the right thing to do for Irish football. If you asked me today, at the end of July, with all the noise that is out there, with all of the commentary, then I’m not sure — that’s the truth — that I would even apply for it. I have a job in Uefa that is arguably the best job in the world, going around Europe working with different federations. I love that role, I look forward, in many ways, to going back to it.

“But part of me absolutely loves being here. When I wake up every morning, even with the challenges that we face, and some of it is tough stuff and it’s a hard slog, I absolutely love it. Every minute of it, even the difficult moments — every moment I love.”

Pressed again as to whether he feels it’s possible he might want to stay on when his six months are up, Mooney said:

It’s July, 2019, there are four months to run and I don’t know how I will feel. For example, my first child comes in six weeks’ time. In my role in Uefa, I cover 55 countries. That’s tough.

“There is a part of me that just loves Ireland and just loves Irish football. It might be in a different role within Irish football, by the way, completely different. I have no idea. There is a part of me that would like to move back to Ireland, but I would say it is extremely unlikely that I will apply for the role.”

Mooney said that having worked in the FAI “many years ago” and lived away from home for all almost eight years, working for Uefa, he found it “strange” on coming back to find himself painted as a controversial appointee as general manager.

He went on: “We plough on regardless. I’d be convinced that in this short period I’d be absolutely the right person to lead the administration through, but I would say that it is extremely unlikely that I will be the person sitting here in December. I’d say I’ll be back in Uefa, working for Uefa, and somebody else will get the job of taking the federation to the next step.”

Mooney was speaking at Ratoath Harps FC in Meath yesterday, where the FAI’s Festival of Football saw the publication of a report, commissioned by Uefa in conjunction with the FAI, which found that participation in grassroots football delivers over €1.13bn of positive value, including economic, social and health benefits, to the country.

Mooney said: “We know that football participation is a huge contributor to a better Ireland, and these results put an economic, social, and health case forward as to why increased investment in grassroots football is a very positive investment. The findings in the Uefa GROW report outline the extent to which football is a force for good in helping to deliver the Government’s health and well-being agenda, and also the dramatic impact the biggest team participation sport in the country has on the Irish economy.”

However, while stressing that the commissioning of the report pre-dated the turmoil in the FAI which has seen a suspension of State funding, Mooney acknowledged that, in the current climate, the timing was not right to present the report to Government.

“We will do at some point,” he said. “But at the moment, we’ve got to get through the AGM and the administrative issues that are there.

“We would love to present this to anyone in Government, we would love to present it to Sport Ireland, and we will in time, no doubt.”