FAI saga rumbles on; Ireland can expect change under Andy Farrell

The FAI saga took its latest ugly twist yesterday when Minister for Sport Shane Ross revealed to an Oireachtas committee that the organisation had sought an ¤18 million bailout during a meeting with the Minister on Monday night. That request was quickly thrown out, according to Ross, but only yesterday at the Oireachtas meeting did the full gravity of the situation seem to hit home for the government ministers present. To put it in a nutshell – if the FAI were to become insolvent (a possibility Ross says Grant Thornton have looked at and initiated plans for) then the League of Ireland would likely "go the same way" (In Ross's words) therefore meaning, according to Uefa regulations, no more Uefa status and no international football teams at any level. And that was only the first half of the day. Last night the FAI released a statement saying it was disappointed in Ross for revealing the seemingly confidential figure of €18m. There is a belief in the FAI and in wider football circles that Mr Ross's comments could endanger the financial rescue package being worked on by the association. Still keeping up? Good, because there's more to come today. Later on the IRFU will meet with the Department of Sport to discuss the ownership structure at the Aviva Stadium. Ross said yesterday that the meeting had been requested by the IRFU but it's believed that they have no interest in acquiring the 42.5 per cent stake owned by the FAI. With plenty left to run in this sorry tale it's probably safe to say it won't be the quietest Christmas for the FAI.

On to rugby and John O'Sullivan writes in his stats column this morning that change can be expected under Andy Farrell when he starts his tenure as Ireland head coach, especially if previous coaching switches are anything to go by. "Based on an admittedly rather narrow evaluation of previous Irish coaching tickets dating back to Brian Ashton's last game in charge and the first for Warren Gatland,there has been an average of 5.4 changes to selection between the final game of the outgoing coach and opening international for his successor," he writes. In other coaching news, Greg Feek was last night confirmed as the new All Blacks scrum coach after leaving Ireland recently.

In soccer, Manchester United and Manchester City last night set up a League Cup semi-final clash next month after both came through their quarter-finals against lower league opposition. Goals from Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial as well as an OG from Ryan Jackson gave United a 3-0 win over Colchester at Old Trafford while City also scored three away to Oxford. In the night's other quarter-final Leicester saw off Everton on penalties to set up a meeting with Aston Villa after they beat Liverpool on Tuesday. Speaking of Liverpool, they booked their place in the Club World Cup final yesterday evening after Roberto Firmino sealed the deal with a goal from the bench to set up a showdown with Flamengo on Saturday. And in Spain the first (rescheduled) clásico of the season finished in a 0-0 draw for the first time in 17 years as independence protests overshadowed the clash between Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Tomorrow The Irish Times/Sport Ireland Women in Sport awards take place in what is the season for handing out sporting gongs and in her column this morning Sonia O'Sullivan writes about the importance of these ceremonies and how it helps to catch up with people from across the sporting spectrum. On the same subject, Kellie O'Keefe looks at the growth of women in sport over the last decade and how the recent Teneo Sport and Sponsorship Index (TSSI) shows it getting even stronger.