Well, what a rollercoaster of a few hours. It is was all relatively tame and whimsical earlier.
John Delaney trended on twitter this afternoon which is always a good thing. Whenever a scion of Irish officialdom trends on social media, you can be sure the love being shared.
Delaney's interview with Ray D'Arcy was the subject of much discussion. Even amid the disclosure that the FAI had indeed received a substantial payment of FIFA in the wake of the Henry affair, Delaney's girlfriend still managed to steal some of the limelight.
It's a shame the good news story that Sepp Blatter approved of John Delaney's girlfriend is being lost in this controversy
— Dion Fanning (@dionfanning) June 4, 2015
@dionfanning Fairly admirable how he shoe-horns his love life into most every interview.
— Adrian Barry (@WhosAdrianBarry) June 4, 2015
John Delaney always talks and behaves like he's just had a bad bang on the head — Village Magazine (@VillageMagIRE) June 4, 2015
Ray: "Fifa made a movie about themselves did they? That's incredible ego." John Delaney (laughing): "Incredible ego" ... — aidan o'hara (@oharaa) June 4, 2015
However, FIFA's statement this evening has changed the tone dramatically. The statement asserts that the payment granted to the FAI in early 2010 was in fact 'a loan for the construction of a stadium in Ireland'.
The loan would only have to be repaid had Ireland qualified for the 2014 World Cup. Ireland did not qualify and the loan was wrote off on 31 December 2014.
FIFA statement on "loan" to FAI. so... which stadium was it? pic.twitter.com/AsuEdhAuT4
— Ken Early (@kenearlys) June 4, 2015
@kenearlys Also a nice incentive not to qualify for 2014
— Dermot Quinn (@DermotQuinn) June 4, 2015
@kenearlys That is truly astonishing. FAI exec have to go, surely????
— Martin Lipton (@MartinLipton) June 4, 2015
The German football association might be checking the statute of limitations about the unfortunate incident in the 1966 World Cup final — aidan o'hara (@oharaa) June 4, 2015
If any bank would like to offer me a loan that I only have to repay if Ireland qualify for the 2018 World Cup, I'm open to offers #FIFA #FAI — Katie Dawson (@katiedawson23) June 4, 2015
So FIFA entered into an agreement w/ FAI that had FAI in effect losing €5m if Ireland qualified for WC2014. Not a good incentive structure.
— Roger Pielke Jr. (@RogerPielkeJr) June 4, 2015
@kenearlys And so Ireland had incentive *not* to qualify for 2014… Did this influence keeping Trap on at the time?! — Total Football (@TotalFootballFC) June 4, 2015
If Delaney and FAI accepted a $5m loan to brush over The French Handball incident then he has to go the Blatter Route and resign.
— Pat Mullally (@patmullally) June 4, 2015
At least we now know the reason Trap was held onto. Caus had we qualified for 2014 World Cup we would have had to pay back €5million..
— Liam Aherne (@laherne95) June 4, 2015
Following the FAI's statement, we saw some more reaction...
The FAI have released a statement which says, "we took his money, but he's still a bollox"
— Richie McCormåck (@RichieMcCormack) June 4, 2015
FAI says it accounted for FIFA's $5m loan in its accounts. Here are the 2010 accounts: feel free to help me find it! https://t.co/atZRhQiUl5
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) June 4, 2015
FAI cite "strong legal advice" on case v. FIFA. No difference these days between legal advice and what some eejit might say on Live Line.
— Declan Lynch (@declynchwriter) June 4, 2015
So turns out the FAI aren't just incompetent, they are so incompetent they inadvertently wandered into the biggest legal scandal on earth.
— Ewan MacKenna (@EwanMacKenna) June 4, 2015
