Irish football: Pace of reform at FAI 'not good enough'

FAI president Donal Conway (left) and executive vice president John Delaney (right) appeared before a parliamentary committee in the Republic in April

The pace of reform at the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) "is not good enough", an Irish parliamentary committee chairman has said.

Fine Gael TD Fergus O'Dowd made his remarks at the committee hearing from Sport Ireland, the body that oversees the development of sport in Ireland.

In April, it suspended giving €1.5m (£1.35m) in tax-payers' money to the FAI.

The figure is around 3% of its roughly €50m (£45m) annual turnover.

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The move followed revelations that the then FAI chief executive, John Delaney, had personally lent the FAI €100,000 (£90,000) to cover what the association called a short-term cash flow problem.

The FAI did not inform Sports Ireland of the problem, which legally it should have done.

Once the controversy arose, Mr Delaney moved to an unadvertised position.

He then stood aside, with the FAI declining to say whether he was still being paid his salary.

'Very old look'

This week, the Irish minister with responsibility for sport, Shane Ross, wrote to the FAI criticising the organisation.

"The new regime has a very old look about it," he said.

The FAI has been criticised for allowing its outgoing president, Donal Conway, to return to his job unopposed.

The FAI's regime has a "very old look about it", Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross has said

Another member of the old board, Noel Fitzroy, is also seeking re-election but will face competition.

Before the hearing began, Mr O'Dowd called for a proper clear out of the entire FAI board.

'Some change'

Sport Ireland told Wednesday's committee hearing that there was "evidence of some change but it's often two steps forward and one step back".

"This is like a marathon and we're at about the three or four mile mark."

There are currently six investigations or reports into the FAI's affairs, including one from the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) into suspected criminality.

The FAI has also been criticised for choosing a former FAI official and close associate of Mr Delaney, Noel Mooney, to run the organisation on a temporary basis.

At the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) committee hearing in April, Mr Delaney declined to answer questions, on foot of legal advice.

The FAI has to date given no indication that it will address concerns about old board members seeking re-election.