AS the FAI lurches from one crises to another, a senior official within the association admits there will probably be calls for an "external inquiry" into reports of a shortfall of £200,000 for 1994 World Cup final tickets when the executive committee meets again on Wednesday.

Following a board of control meeting this evening, weekly meetings of the executive committee will take place to discuss the pressing issues currently swamping the FAI, namely: the above ticket issue, finalisation of Mick McCarthy's contract and the vexed issue of his assistant, and a replacement for the departed chief executive, Sean Connolly. At least one, if not two, full-time employees of the FAI seemingly in conflict with the association are reputedly set to resign before the week is out.

Representatives of National League clubs, especially in Dublin, are also expected to express their hostility toward any planned attempts on the part of certain officers to assume full-time jobs within the association. This was rumoured to be their planned agenda for some time, though if so it has now been scuppered.

Indeed, the FAI president, Louis Kilcoyne, has moved quickly to quell rumours of any prospective bid on his part to take over from Sean Connolly, as has the National League president Michael Hyland.

Meanwhile, Kilcoyne and the association's treasurer, Joe Delaney, travel to London today to discuss compensation with Millwall over the termination of McCarthy's contract at the First Division club. Ironically, they are the two officers who are widely believed to have voted for Kevin Moran.

McCarthy is due to meet FAI officials when he returns from holidays on Thursday.