FAI set to appoint Meinert as new Ireland women’s boss

The FAI are looking to Germany again for a women’s international manager, with Maren Meinert emerging as a leading candidate for the job.

After Colin Bell, a Champions League winning manager with Frankfurt, walked away from the post five weeks for a job with Huddersfield Town, Ruud Dokter had to find a replacement urgently.

The FAI’s High Performance director had been working on the next qualifying series with Bell since their World Cup campaign finished last September.

Following friendlies against Belgium, Wales, and Italy, Ireland were gearing up for the opener of their Euro qualifying campaign against Montenegro at Tallaght Stadium on September 3.

Then Bell abruptly quit, questioning the FAI’s ambition in the process, and leaving them with a gap to fill.

Although Tom O’Connor is leading the team in the USA this week, ahead of a friendly against the world champions tomorrow in Pasadena, he was an unsuccessful interview candidate.

Another existing FAI employee, U19 manager Dave Connell, also didn’t land the job.

Last week Megan Campbell warned retirements would likely follow if the FAI appointed from within, saying it needed to be an “external job”.

Meinert (45) progressed into coaching following an illustrious playing career which included an appearance in the 2003 World Cup final.

Employed by the DFB since 2005, she led the U19s to three European titles and presided over two U20 World Cup victories.

She was widely credited with producing a generation of gems for a senior team that reached top spot in the world rankings in 2014. Meinert’s final involvement was with the U19 team, which last week reached the European final.

Although it has been agreed before that tournament in Scotland that she would step down on August 31, Meinert could start familiarising herself with a new task if talks on a deal with the FAI conclude in the coming days.

Meanwhile, the 2023 Women’s World Cup will be expanded to a 32-team tournament. A FIFA Council unanimously agreed yesterday to a proposal to expand the number of teams taking part from 24 to 32 with immediate effect from the next edition of the tournament.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino said: “It means that, from now on, dozens more member associations will organise their women’s football programme knowing they have a realistic chance of qualifying.”

Nine countries — Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, and South Korea — have bid to stage the 2023 tournament.

The host nation is expected to be announced next May.