Senior FAI officials are set to meet Government representatives and members of the Irish Sports Council this week after John Delaney's statement on Saturday to the effect that the post of chief executive would be advertised before Christmas to put the association back on speaking terms with the the Minister for Sport, John O'Donoghue.
Although he claimed he had never had any difficulty with the proposal, Delaney's comments signalled a considerable climbdown by the FAI. He said the position of CEO and that of financial director would now be opened to public competition before the end of the year. He added, however, "in relation to the financial director's position there are potential complications".
This is a reference to a claim from within the FAI that Peter Buckley, the organisation's accountant, was effectively promoted to the post in March when he was given a significant pay rise and the promise of bonuses linked to the FAI's financial performance.
The understanding is Delaney will take his chances in the interview process although there will be considerable manoeuvring over the make-up of any interview panel in the wake of the Minister's comments last week to the effect he did not envisage a majority of those conducting the interviews for the CEO job being drawn from the ranks of the FAI. Crucially, however, Saturday's statement ends the immediate threat to the association's funding from the Government and gives Delaney the opportunity to meet officials from the Department of Sport who, he will hope, might be more conciliatory now the impasse of last week has ended with O'Donoghue coming out on top.
A short statement issued by the Department last night hinted at a less frosty future. In it a spokesman said, "Minister O'Donoghue, on behalf of the Government, welcomes the statement by the treasurer of the FAI that the association now intends to advertise the positions of chief executive and financial director before the end of the year and, on that basis, looks forward to working together with it in the interest of Irish football."
The first contact between the two sides is likely to be a scheduled meeting with the Sports Council tomorrow afternoon.
Brian Kerr, meanwhile, will be without Matt Holland, Andy Reid and Andy O'Brien for tomorrow evening's game against Croatia at Lansdowne Road while Steve Carr is a major doubt after limping out of yesterday's game between Newcastle United and Manchester United.
Holland travelled to Dublin after playing for Charlton on Saturday but the midfielder has been suffering with a heel and ankle injury for a couple of weeks. The Irish team's medical staff assessed the problem and decided it would be better if he returned to his club for further treatment.
Reid is also ruled out after twisting an ankle while playing for Nottingham Forest on Saturday while O'Brien pulled a hamstring yesterday but Kerr was optimistic he might still have a large squad to choose from with up to 21 players expected to have reported in by this afternoon. "There were a lot of sore bodies in training yesterday because only three of the lads didn't play on Saturday and we don't know yet about any of the lads that were involved with Newcastle or United but it's still looking fairly okay," he said last night.
Neither John O'Shea nor Liam Miller were given a place by Alex Ferguson for yesterday's game but Kerr expects both to be at training this morning at Malahide. This will be the first meeting between the sides since the 2-2 draw three years ago.
Kerr said: "It has the potential to be a good game
. . . we want to win and keep the momentum we've built up lately going."
The decisive matches in the National League will be played on Friday night (kick-off, 7.30) with champions Shelbourne, who need only a draw to take the title, away to St Patrick's Athletic and second-placed Cork City at home to Bohemians.
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