In this ongoing argument with between the Republic of Ireland Women's National Team and the FAI, the governing body's main argument is a reluctance to deal with the PFAI, who the players have chosen as the organisation they want representing them in all negotiations.
It's unclear as to why the FAI won't deal with the players' union other than, as they claim, they never have before with regard to international teams.
Karen Duggan, the international player of the year, was on RTE's Morning Ireland this morning in reaction to Noel King's interview where he claimed the PFAI were out of order and made some very simple, clearcut points about why they want to be represented, that are very hard to argue with.
They were strong words in the press conference, but they reflect a group of players who really feel like we're at the end of our tether. We've been banging our heads against the wall for a long time.
It's important not to lose sight of what the actual issue here is. It's not about getting a tracksuit, that's very easily resolved. But it's about a group of players who are made of up of teachers, students, and footballers at the end of the day, not having the skills to go in and interact and make developments with the FAI, who have skilled negotiators. We feel that we've done it before and not enough action was taken from it. It hasn't been proactive on the FAI's side. We just want to see the women's game develop and for this group of players and the players coming through to be allowed to reach their potential.
This is not meant to be an "us vs. them" thing. The crux of the issue is we want to be represented by the PFAI. We feel like the PFAI are a knowledgeable group. They are football people. They know the landscape of football in this country and around the world, and we feel like they are best placed to represent us.
When presenter Darren Frehill pointed out the men's team don't have PFAI representation, Karen got to the heart of the matter.
No they don't, but the men's team were afforded the opportunity to have representation, and we've chosen the the PFAI to represent us because they have our best interests at heart. We have a really good relationship with them. We just want to be afforded that opportunity.
So basically, there's no difference. The PFAI are just who the women's players have chosen as their representative, the same way as the men choose their's. The "if it's good enough for the men's team..." narrative is completely false, as well as being obviously misleading. What Karen was too polite to say to Frehill's question was that there is absolutely no comparison to whatever deal with men have with what the women have. There is no world in which the men's team agree with to play for free for a long period of time. It would not have come to this with the men's team. If they demanded to be represented by the PFAI, would the FAI be so reluctant?
Duggan's point about the FAI demanding the players deal with them directly is very well made. They are footballers. Professional footballers, who are entitled to professional representation. They are entitled to the best deal they can through professional negotiations.
Like us, Duggan is unsure as to why the FAI are so against dealing with the PFAI in this situation.
I think it's a very simple thing to resolve it. We just open up the dialogue between the PFAI and the FAI, and that's the beginning of it and this all can go away very quickly. In my eyes, it's simple. We haven't been given a reason why the FAI won't engage with the PFAI. We know that they said it's a board matter but we haven't been given details on that so, for me, I find it a bit baffling. I don't really understand why it hasn't been resolved before all of this, but we're in this position now and we're standing together as a team. But we want to train. We want to pay matches. That's all we want to do, to concentrate on football and play to the best of our ability.
Since her interview on Morning Ireland, SIPTU and the PFAI have announced that the team will be not be attending their scheduled training camp today, but will attend, along with the PFAI representatives, a mediation meeting this evening, which will hopefully be the first step in resolving all of this.
