FAI President Paul Cooke, in his first AGM as President, has called on grassroot members to put pressure on the government to support Irish soccer.
He called for the FAI to be given a share of the government betting tax and insisted that the association deserved the investment.
Cooke said that he and his fellow board members had worked "bloody hard to eradicate the mistakes of the past" and in relation to seeking support of local politicians, he said to tell them in the forthcoming general election that "if they want your vote we want their support."
Cooke told the floor that he and other members of the FAI board remained fully supportive of the women who had suffered abuse while involved in football.
He revealed that he had personally met some of the women recently to hear from them their horrific stories of abuse and said that it must never happen again. Safeguarding, he said, was the highest priority for the association.
Elsewhere, Ireland's first appearance at a Women’s World Cup in 2023 and the hosting of women’s matches at the Aviva Stadium helped push income growth for the FAI.
Finance director Dan McCormack told delegates that income growth for the association was strong and match related income of €18.6 million euro was an increase of €9.5 million from 2022.
The FAI’s current borrowings are down from €50.9 million last year to €43.2 million this year.
Turnover has increased by over €8 million euro to €62.3 million but the cash balance has dwindled from almost €11 million to just €1.6 million euro.
Two independent board members, Packie Bonner and Robert Watt, sought ratification for extra terms as directors and Caroline Rhatigan was ratified as a director replacing Niamh O'Mahoney as a representative of the national league.
In relation to the appointment of new men's national team manager Heimar Hallgrimsson, delegate Stuart Gilhooley, representing the Players Union, claimed that the general assembly was misled by the timing communicated to them regarding the appointment, saying that the FAI could not have secured the services of the Iceland native in April and therefore that he could not have been their first choice.
Marc Canham, newly-appointed as FAI Chief Football Officer, addressed the floor and reiterated that Hallgrimsson was the preferred candidate and that he regretted his comments to the media in early-April, when John O’Shea was announced as interim head coach, that a full-time appointment was due shortly. Hallgrimsson was finally confirmed as the new Republic of Ireland head coach in July.
The decision of the UK government to not fund the Casement Park redevelopment in time for Euro 2028 due to "a significant risk that it would not be built on time" is expected to be discussed as the AGM continues as this could have implications for the Republic of Ireland’s co-hosting of the tournament.
Hannah Dingley, the FAI's Head of Women and Girl’s football, announced a new Women’s Leadership Programme for aspiring female leaders in football which is due to begin in October 2024.
This will be an opportunity for women in football to participate in a year-long industry-leading leadership programme.
Interim CEO David Courell said that he was delighted that SIPTU, the union representing some workers in the FAI, had agreed to cease their proposed industrial action and had agreed to become involved in the staff engagement programme. A pay increase of 3.5% per annum has been applied across the board at the FAI.
The financial situation at Dundalk where the owner Brian Ainscough admitted last week that there were difficulties in paying the players was raised by Stephen McGuinness of the PFAI, the players’ union.
McGuinness said that he believed that the ownership test as part of the licensing process isn’t robust enough. He fears that Dundalk could go out of business next week.
David Courell said that lessons must be learned from the situation at Dundalk football club. The club changed hands in December 2023 and the same degree of financial due diligence may not have been applied to the new ownership.
Courell went in to say that right now the focus and energy is to support Dundalk FC and to ensure their viability going forward.
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