The FAI — New Faces But The Same Old Story

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) CEO, Jonathan Hill, was in front of the Oireachtas Public Accountants Committee (PAC) today as a result of irregularities in annual leave and holiday pay.

Hill was in to answer questions about receiving a €12,000 payment in lieu of holidays. Hill claimed today, under questioning, that his leave request was granted after a joke. In a heavily redacted email, Hill claims that this set in motion a chain of events which led to his obscene holiday pay.

Hill’s assertion that he didn’t request the special treatment personally, was also queried by a different committee in December.

In reality, the scrutiny that Hill finds himself under is nothing new for the FAI. Hill was the permanent successor to charlatan and perpetual embezzler John Delaney.

In a week where the FAI launched their very positive Players Pathway Plan, the League of Ireland saw record opening day attendances. This was overshadowed, unfortunately, by the FAI’s mess after mess in search of a senior Men’s National Team manager.

It appears that an organisation bailed out by the tax payer in recent years hasn’t actually changed it’s stripes, despite the public outcry post Delaney.

The Football Association of Ireland is a microcosm of the political system in Ireland. There’s loads of back-handed deals and pats on the back. They look after each other. They’re greedy, unaccountable. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

They always cheat, they always lie,

{Redacted}

And the FAI.