USUALLY the best method of silencing noise is by whispering the truth and for Irish football that means the FAI being gender balance compliant, by the December 31 deadline.
So frequent have FAI annual and extraordinary meetings been since their governance and financial crisis in 2019 — lurching into double-figures — that last Thursday’s latest wasn’t circled as anything extraordinary.
The FAI warmed up by unfurling a deluge of good news stories, from Cup final tickets “gone” to season tickets “sold” and an extension to the national league sponsorship, but the feelgood factor didn’t cascade into the meeting.
Down for decision in the amendment to the FAI’s constitution was enlarging their board from 12 to 14, of which six would be female — to meet the 40% proportion set by the Government.
While there’s no objection to that concept, what generated debate was the source of the directors.
Under the Memorandum of Understanding – effectively a contract – the board was to be composed equally of those from the football and independent sides.
The absence of independent oversight at the top of the organisation was declared a contributory factor to the FAI’s malaise under John Delaney, that brought it to the brink of financial Armageddon.
That Brendan Dillon was the chief speaker against Thursday’s rule proposal was symbolic for a couple of reasons. The solicitor was formerly chairman of the League of Ireland.
One of the reasons he quit in 2004 was the association’s failure to implement a key recommendation of the Genesis Report from two years’ previously, specifically the introduction of non-executive directors.
What transpired, as was officially stated across investigations, was board capture — a term indicating dominance by a
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