Denis Irwin has stood up for former Manchester United and Republic of Ireland team-mate Roy Keane, accusing the FAI of "amateurish" organisation.
Irwin, whose United career came to an end this season, sympathises with Keane, who was kicked out of the Irish World Cup squad following a row with manager Mick McCarthy.
He told the Daily Express: "This has been developing for quite a while. The FAI are amateurish in the way they do things - the way we have travelled, the hotels we have stayed in and the training facilities laid on for us.
"Roy brought this up a couple of years ago and things did seem to improve.
"But you can see by their flights to the Far East - from Dublin to Amsterdam to Tokyo and then out to Saipan - it was a gruelling trip and they should really have flown direct, like England.
"Roy is serious about football, he wants his team-mates to think the same way as him and he wants training to be perfect because they are playing in a World Cup.
"I'm sure Roy will be feeling a very lonely man. There are no winners in this, only losers.
"Roy's a loser, Mick's a loser and the other players are losers and so are the fans. They are going to miss a world-class player."
PA