FAI to attend committee over knowledge of abuse claims

RTÉ News​

6 days ago

The FAI said it has accepted an invitation to appear before an Oireachtas committee to answer claims by a Fianna Fáil TD that it knew of allegations about a former national team manager's behaviour towards female footballers as far back as 2023.
The Committee on Arts, Media, Communications and Sport has asked the FAI to appear before it several times already this year.
However, in a statement, the association asked for the meeting to be "deferred" for four weeks.
The FAI claimed the postponement would "enable adequate preparation time, given the complexity introduced by the Committee seeking material that relates directly to an ongoing garda investigation".
The women's allegations came to light in 2024 during an investigation conducted jointly by RTÉ Investigates and the Sunday Independent over a two-and-a-half-year period.
Speaking under Dáil privilege recently, TD Pádraig O'Sullivan said recent correspondence, which he had seen, clearly demonstrates that this was known by the FAI nine months prior to the RTÉ Investigates programme.
"That in itself is damning," Mr O'Sullivan said.
He added: "I am not attempting to stray into the specifics of any allegations. That is a matter for the authorities concerned.
"However, for an organisation such as the FAI not to act on this matter, even in the absence of an official complaint or allegation, is extremely worrying and, if I am being brutally honest, it directly contradicts its child welfare and safeguarding policy."
However, Minister of State at the Department of Sport Charlie McConalogue told the Dáil that it seems that no complaint was made nor any evidence of inappropriate behaviour received by the FAI in 2023.
The FAI claimed the dates offered to it by the committee, 9 or 16 July, were not viable due to "key personnel" being on annual leave and over its ability "to comply with this request and to enable adequate preparation time".
"Any disclosure must also be assessed carefully for legal and GDPR compliance given the sensitive and confidential nature of safeguarding information requested.
"Over the intervening period we will continue to liaise with the Committee to ensure the scope of the session is clearly defined to ensure that no parties could inadvertently compromise an ongoing investigation," the statement said.
The FAI said, "we fully respect" the committee's work and it was "committed" to engaging with it at a "revised date" in the future.
The association also encouraged anyone involved in Irish football that has experienced abuse to report it to them.