Days of crisis and opportunity for the FAI

In a few reports recently, the ‘E’ in the EGM which the FAI held last Saturday in Dunboyne was taken to mean ‘emergency’ when, according to my profound and comprehensive mastery of company law, ‘extraordinary’ is what it actually stands for.

Not that you’d imagine anyone would be inclined to split hairs in a climate when that excellent Irish euphemism ‘emergency’ seems as good a word as any to describe the situation in which the FAI finds itself, with ‘extraordinary’ not too far behind.

As the FAI gets ready to host its AGM in Trim today, the temptation to paint a picture of the association arriving at a critical crossroads has to be tempered by the realisation that it’s likely just one of many more it will have to address in the coming weeks and months.

One thinks of Woody Allen musing about the state of the world:

“More than at any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.”

As far as the current keepers of the keys seem to be concerned, such a choice between worst-case scenarios was avoided thanks to the backing received for sweeping governance reforms at last weekend’s EGM but, beginning with today’s AGM, the challenge of actually implementing the radical changes proposed — and, crucially, in a way which must be seen to succeed in restoring the organisation’s shredded authority — still looks daunting, a process of painful evolution rather than bloodless revolution which, however it pans out, will still be too quick for some and too slow for others.

And it all has to be negotiated against the backdrop of a money squeeze which has put job security in Abbotstown in the spotlight and, alongside a Sport Ireland-commissioned audit and other reviews, an ODCE investigation into the association’s financial operations which has been described as serious and substantial.

Fortunately for the FAI, football’s global powers that be, Uefa and Fifa, currently have their federation’s back in the form of support which, both strategic and financial, is helping them to keep the show on the road, though those bills must inevitably come due at some point.

In large part, it’s that support which has enabled the FAI, even in the face of a freeze in State funding, to face down withering government criticism of the appointment of Noel Mooney as general manager and Donal Conway’s decision to stand again for president today.

Conway himself could hardly have made it any clearer about how he sees the balance of power when, following last week’s EGM, he said:

“Sport Ireland provide 5% of our revenue. I have always said it’s important, it’s really, really important. But in any one year we might get €10m to €12m from Uefa. When you look at that, adding Fifa money from various programmes — they may kick in in a particular year or not — they are our two key stakeholders. They matter more. Uefa, in particular, is the absolute key relationship for the FAI.”

After speaking about the urgent need to rebuild trust, confidence, and faith in the FAI, Aidan Horan, chair of the Governance Review Group whose reform recommendations were endorsed by the EGM, made the point at the launch of the report that good governance is a means to an end, not an end in itself.

And he reminded his listeners that, in the case of the FAI, the end is “the promotion and development of football in Ireland. All of the governance practices, policies, procedures, processes, and the overall governance structures and arrangements should be directed with that overall purpose in mind.”

So let’s talk football. As it happens, and despite all the current turmoil and uncertainty about the future, the Irish game is currently delivering admirably at the elite end of things, with a depleted U19s, under the management of Tom Mohan, entitled to take great credit for reaching the semi-finals of the European Championship while, in club competition and up against testing opposition, Shamrock Rovers and Dundalk are keeping the League of Ireland flag flying in Europe.

Mick McCarthy repeatedly dismisses the notion that the FAI crisis is having any impact whatsoever on his work with the senior team. Indeed, more than once, he has insisted that the professionalism of the back-up he currently receives as senior manager is a huge improvement on his experience the last time he was in charge.

However, Stephen Kenny, who has gotten off to a fine start as U21 boss, did allow this week that in maintaining focus on his job, he has had to consciously “detach” himself from the background upheaval so as not to allow it to “erode spirits”.

Doubtless easier said than done, that is a sentiment which must be shared by the majority across the game, from top to bottom, but especially at the grassroots, that vital but vulnerable resource from which each new generation of the ‘Irish football family’ — from players and coaches to supporters and administrators — ultimately emerges.

As a rule, it should always be the case of boots before suits but no one in football needs to be told that, especially at the worst of times, the dressing room cannot hope to remain immune to what goes on in the boardroom. While it’s clearly too early to think the FAI are about to stop making front-page headlines, or to imagine there won’t be further twists and revelations which could complicate best-laid plans, the hope has to persist that the current crisis, even if it has yet to run its course, will turn out to be the catalyst for genuine, transformative change.