Soccer

Government bailout now likely as Shane Ross says FAI old guard "excised"

Sports Minister Shane Ross says the old guard of the FAI has now been excised and the healthy reg...

Richie McCormack

@richiemccormack

Soccer

Richie McCormack

@richiemccormack

Sports Minister Shane Ross says the old guard of the FAI has now been excised and the healthy regeneration of the association can begin.

Managing Director at Goodbody Stockbrokers Roy Barrett was last night confirmed as the new Independent Chairperson of the FAI board.

While Autolease Fleet Management CEO Catherine Guy and the Central Bank's Director of Human Resources Liz Joyce have also joined the board as independent directors.

Niall Quinn today distanced himself from the still vacant fourth independent director's role saying he lacked the skillset required.

And following a meeting today with the new directors, Minister Ross said his department can now considered how best the Government can assist the FAI in moving on.

Today's meeting with representatives of the FAI follows another which centred around the future of the League of Ireland.

PFAI General Secretary told Off The Ball this week that Minister Ross "went 99% of the way to say that the government wouldn’t allow the FAI to go into examinership or insolvency".

Minister Ross said of today's meeting, "It was good to have the opportunity to meet with the new Chairman and Directors so soon after their appointment.

"We had an encouraging and frankly, a warm discussion today.

"I am now confident that the new Board is committed to delivering the necessary governance reforms and ensuring that a stronger association emerges for the good of Irish football and all who love it.

"The Old Guard have now been excised and a healthy regeneration of the FAI can commence. We can now consider how best the Government can assist the FAI in moving on."

Allied to that statement, Minister Brendan Griffin said, "Our meeting with the new Chairman and Directors today was very positive.

"It is clear that the new Board has the determination to bring about the change that is needed in the FAI. I am hopeful that we will see some early signs of that change which will go some way towards rebuilding public trust in the association."