After coming perilously close to carrying out strike action over unpaid wages, Bray Wanderers found the necessary funds at the eleventh to pay their playing staff yesterday. With players going unpaid since 25 May, Fran Gavin, the Football Association of Ireland's Director of Competitions, has revealed his is pleased that this 'absolutely unacceptable' situation has been temporarily reconciled.
Speaking to Eir Sport ahead of tonight's televised League of Ireland clash between St. Patrick's Athletic and Limerick, Gavin stated the FAI were determined that players simply should not be subjected to such a situation again:
We've made it very clear ... that it's not acceptable that players aren't paid and contracts aren't honoured. It's absolutely not acceptable from the FAI's point of view that a club would allow that to happen.
Keen to ensure clubs strive to work within their means, Gavin was less than complimentary about the role of the Professional Footballers of Ireland's (PFAI) role in the recent events.
Central to communicating the players' public statements, on 12 July the PFAI's Twitter account posted a picture of gathered Bray Wanderers players with the accompanying message: "Not good enough time for change."
Discussing their role in creating a "media circus" around the situation at Bray Wanderers, Gavin believed their services could be best used elsewhere:
The leadership of the PFAI, their behaviour around this situation, left a lot to be desired. It did not help the situation in trying to come to a resolution.
Revealing that he was "personally disappointed with the way the PFAI acted," Gavin believed that the advice coming from - or being given to - the PFAI was "unfortunate," and undermined what the FAI were trying to do by way of rectifying the situation.
Regarding where the money to pay the unpaid wages of Bray Wanderer's players came from, Gavin was adamant that all funds came from the clubs themselves, and the FAI financed no part of it.
You can watch Fran Gavin's interview in whole below.
"The leadership of the PFAI, their behaviour around this situation, left a lot to be desired. It did not help the situation in trying to come to a resolution" @FAIreland Director of Competitions Fran Gavin spoke to us at Richmond Park earlier today. #PATSvLIM #LOI pic.twitter.com/cD9JMAzYAh
— eir Sport (@eirSport) July 20, 2018
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