FAI director of football John Martin is unsure what he should have done differently when negotiating a contract with agent David Moss to bring Michael Noonan to Shamrock Rovers last year. That contract is under investigation by Fifa for potentially breaching rules on third-party ownership of players.
Noonan’s club, Shamrock Rovers, self-reported the deal with Moss to football’s governing body last summer. Martin resigned as the Rovers chief executive in April 2025, three months after agreeing the deal with Moss for the teenage striker. Martin was subsequently appointed by the FAI last September.
In 2015, Fifa banned third-party ownership (TPO). This is the practice of a private investor, be it an individual, company or fund, owning part of a player’s economic rights.
“I don’t know,” Martin replied when asked what he would have done differently in his dealings with Moss over Noonan’s contract. “I was [Rovers CEO] for a couple of years and I probably made hundreds if not thousands of decisions.
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“Sometimes I felt like I was doing that, hundreds or thousands, every week. It’s a bit of the burden of leadership. You have to make decisions all the time. That’s the role.
“Of course you look back and say maybe I might have done this different or that different across a range of different things in the club.”
Under the contract negotiated by Moss with Martin, the agent would receive a percentage of any transfer fee Rovers obtained for Noonan when he turns 18 in July. This could prove to be in breach of Fifa regulations, although Rovers and FAI sources informed the Irish Times in February that “an error in construction of the contract” had occurred.
Moss has insisted he “complied with all legal and regulatory requirements”.
Rovers, in a statement to The Sunday Times in February, said: “As part of the licensing agreement for European football we have to give an undertaking to Uefa that we own the economic rights of all of our players. Ultimately, that wasn’t the case. When we became aware of it, we did self-report and that would stand in our favour.”
When asked if a mistake had been made, Martin replied: “I don’t know. I suppose it probably depends what comes back. I know Rovers have referred it. It’s not something that’s come my way in this position to determine. I suppose it’s to maybe not pre-empt what might come back on that.”
There has been no contact between Martin and Fifa on the matter.
Speaking at his first media briefing as an FAI employee on Wednesday morning, Martin added: “I’m conscious of the fact that sometimes Irish football doesn’t have a great reputation. Suddenly I feel like I’ve come into the role to try and make a difference.
“I love the role, I mean that genuinely. I love working for the FAI, I love being in there. You’d hate that you could damage that in some way. It’s not nice.”
