FAI will not intervene in dispute, says Menton

ROY KEANE'S future with the Irish soccer squad lies firmly between himself and Mick McCarthy after Football Association of Ireland (FAI) management ruled out intervening in the dispute between the two in their upcoming inquiry into the association's World Cup preparations.

The Irish Sports Council is expected this week to meet a request by the FAI to appoint an independent chairperson to head the inquiry and an international sports management consultancy has been retained to add their expertise to the process.

But while it will examine the handling of events in Saipan - both at the Pacific island training base and in Ireland - the review will not delve into the core issue of the row between the former captain and the team manager.

There was speculation that Keane's visit to Dublin at the weekend as part of the Manchester United team to play Shelbourne in a pre-season friendly might present an ideal opportunity for FAI officials to approach the star midfielder informally about bringing him back to the fold.

But FAI general secretary, Brendan Menton, said at the association's AGM in Dublin this was not on the cards, pointing out Keane was here "on Manchester United business".

"The position of the association on the Roy Keane issue is that it's an issue between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy," he said.

"Everyone in football and in Ireland would be grateful if the row were sorted out," he added, but stressed: "The manager selects the team."

Mr Menton admitted the association was caught off guard by the row in Saipan which resulted in Keane flying home and a botched attempt to organise Colin Healy as a replacement for him.

"The association made detailed plans for the World Cup but did not expect a crisis of the magnitude that arose in Saipan. Hence our manpower was insufficient to respond adequately.

"Apart from this issue, I am confident that the independent review of our preparations will demonstrate that our overall organisation for the World Cup was good and that the hotel and training facilities available to the players were excellent."

He said the review needed to be completed "sooner rather than later" given that the away friendly against Finland was just four weeks off and the first European Championship qualifier was only six weeks away.