The Football Association of Ireland has concluded its investigation into the video message shown to the Republic of Ireland squad before last week’s friendly against England and now “considers the matter closed”.
The video, reportedly “anti-English” and used as a motivational tool, prompted an investigation by the governing body. But the FAI has accepted the explanations of the manager, Stephen Kenny, and some of his staff and players, and has now drawn a line under the incident.
An FAI statement read: “Earlier this week issues regarding content shared with the senior Ireland men’s team ahead of the recent friendly against England at Wembley Stadium were brought to the attention of the FAI.
“Following this development, the FAI decided it was appropriate to look into the matter. Since then the FAI has had discussions with a number of staff members and players, including the team manager, Stephen Kenny. The board has accepted the explanations provided and considers that the matter is now closed.”
England won the match at Wembley 3-0. Kenny is still searching for his first win after eight games in charge of Ireland, including a penalty shootout defeat to Slovakia that ended their hopes of qualifying for the Euro 2020 finals. His team have managed to score only once in 2020, during a 1-1 draw with Bulgaria in September.
