Despite what many had hoped for heading into today's FAI Oirechtas hearing, we know no more about the inner workings of the Association despite an 8 hour session. Just ask Brian Kerr.
While it was expected that John Delaney would make some attempt to explain the €100,000 loan he gave to the FAI in 2017, the former CEO simply read out a prepared statement and said he would not be answering further questions due to legal advice.
What would follow was one of the most farcical hearings you are likely to see, with representatives from the FAI repeatedly dodging even the most straightforward of questions. In all, it was a terrible day for the Irish football. Even though many had not thought it possible, the FAI managed to emerge with even less public credibility than they had entered the day with.
Brian Kerr has been a vocal critic of the way the Association conduct their business for a number of years now, and he was unsurprisingly appalled with what he saw today. Speaking on Virgin Media Sport this evening, he said today was the perfect example of why change was needed:
"The FAI had the opportunity today to be open, transparent, humble & truthful.
"What we got was evasion, arrogance, dodging & weaving, and large doses of spoofology!"
Brian Kerr on the FAI's appearance in front of the Oireachtas today.#VMSport pic.twitter.com/mE1vMQKyxj— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) April 10, 2019
Today emphasised to the public why people like Niall (Quinn) would demand change. I have to say that Fergus O'Dowd, in his chairing of the meeting today frustrated most of the committee that were there, limiting the type of questions they were allowed to ask the FAI.
He was quite kind, I thought, to the FAI in stopping certain questioning taking the place.
The FAI had the opportunity today to be open, transparent, humble & truthful. What we actually got was evasion, arrogance, dodging & weaving, and large doses of spoofology in the replies to the questions that were given.
There seemed to be an intent to give as little information as possible and hide behind the various reports. The public wanted to see transparency. Those people today were an embarrassment to football. They showed the reason why there is a need for change.
I said frequently before that too many have been there for too long. They just don't get it, the people want to see people of better quality in those positions. They repeatedly said they didn't know the answers when they were asked questions, why didn't they know the answers?
These are the people that have been in place on the board. At one stage they admitted that six people had 103 years between them of service on the board.
What difference have they made to corporate governance or transparency? Or to the betterment of the game? The game isn't any better because of these people. Naturally the game has developed, but there are still aspects of the game that are struggling because of the decision making and the lack of transparency of these people, and doing the job they are supposed to have as board members.
