The FAI will be hauled before a powerful Dail committee tomorrow as its former chief said the organisation is “clearly insolvent”.
It has also emerged the Government will restore funding directly to smaller clubs because Sports Minister Shane Ross believes the body “can’t be trusted”.
Former FAI chief Fran Rooney welcomed the move and told RTE’s Morning Ireland: “The FAI can’t pay its bills as they fall due. It doesn’t have the assets to pay its liabilities.
“I think it is a very dire situation for the football association to find itself in. I think the move by Mr Ross is a step in the right direction.”
Mr Rooney added Ireland could follow the example of Britain where the government there pulled away from funding the English FA until it got its house in order.
He said: “Our Government is threatening that, whether they will go the whole hog and literally pull out of international competition for a period of time until all of the houses are put in order and a proper regularity structure put in place.”
The FAI’s former general secretary and treasurer Brendan Menton said he does not believe the organisation can survive without outside help.
He told Today with Sean O’Rourke: “I don’t think the FAI have the capacity to fix their problems and get a new business plan in place.
“They need to get all stakeholders on board, including UEFA and FIFA.
“I hope an independent chairman and independent directors can come on board and provide leadership and restore the FAI brand. If it can be solved, the debt is going to have to be pushed out by many years – so God knows how long it’s going to be before things are stabilised.”
Minister Ross said he is restoring funding to grassroots soccer because the FAI “can’t be trusted” to deliver the cash.
He added: “We are not going to be paying it to the FAI any more.... there’s no money going to them.
“We’ve devised a mechanism which we think will work, to give it to a third party [which] will distribute it to the clubs by paying the developments officers who do the programmes which is so important to the small clubs.”
The FAI will sit down with the Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport tomorrow at 1.30pm but Minister Ross will not attend.
