Considering the dire financial straits that the FAI have found themselves in, everything must be done in order to balance the books in the years ahead. The process to doing so is well underway, although there are still some decisions from the previous regime that are still having an effect the present day.
Robbie Keane's contract is one of them.
Ireland's all-time top goalscorer was handed a four-year contract back in 2018 to become part of Mick McCarthy's backroom team, earning a rumoured salary of around €250,000 per year. This longer deal was handed out in spite of the fact Mick McCarthy would only be in charge of the side until 2020, with his successor Stephen Kenny assured that he would be allowed to choose his own coaching team.
Once Kenny took the job, he opted not to keep Keane on. As a result he was left in limbo, under contract with the FAI but without a role to fill. This situation has been rumbling on for a couple of years now with very little update.
FAI CEO says no news on Robbie Keane contract situation
Speaking at FAI headquarters as Stephen Kenny's new contract was announced, FAI CEO Jonathan Hill confirmed that 'nothing had changed' in regards to Keane's situation within the FAI, although he would not go into details about had been discussed between the two sides in recent times.
I think the last time we spoke that I had agreed with Robbie not to talk about that publicly. That is between ourselves and Robbie in relation to his contract.
Nothing has changed...
I have committed to Robbie that any conversations we had would stay between us...
I understand the question, but I'm not going to be drawn into it publicly because that is the nature of it.
Hill confirmed that Keane's contract would run through the summer of 2022.
Many have questioned why a role could not be found for the former striker within the FAI, especially when you consider the sizeable salary that he had been drawing. For an organisation in such a questionable financial state, this deal has certainly been an issue.
One way to ease such concerns would be to find a new main sponsor for the men's national team.
The side have been without a flagship partner since 3 ended their deal at the end of 2019, with nobody else coming on board since.
Such a partnership would be a major boost for the FAI coffers, although such an arrangement has not been forthcoming. Hill confirmed that there was little news on that front, although he remains confident that the Association will find the right deal in time.
It's important (to find a new sponsor)...
Not only do we have the negative business effects of covid and brexit, but we were also playing our international matches in empty stadiums. That is not an easy thing to sell to any sponsor, particularly a new sponsor.
I think it's great that we have now got certainty in Stephen, brands and sponsors will look at that and see the degree of certainty that we talked about. That will be an added benefit of being involved with the team.
I've said it before, I genuinely do believe that there will be a business that will come in and see everything that is happening with the senior men's team and the quality of individuals within that, both Stephen and the coaching team and the players themselves.
I do believe that they are reflective of what is happening within Ireland at the moment. I genuinely believe that a brand or business will buy into that.
For now, Ireland will be concentrating on on-field matters, with friendlies against Belgium and Lithuania to come later in the month.
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