Sport Ireland suspend FAI grants following audit

The FAI is facing further boardroom rancour after three directors called for an urgent meeting over the findings of a Sport Ireland commissioned audit.

The issues identified are understood to be related to the remuneration package of chief executive Jonathan Hill and has led to grant aid being suspended.

Specifically, it centres on whether the FAI breached a condition on maximum pay levels within the Memorandum of Understanding, the blueprint they signed when receiving the State bailout in January 2020.

Moderating salary levels, in the wake of John Delaney’s handsome income over his 15 years as chief executive, was a priority as Leinster House tried to grapple with the breakdown in trust by stakeholders, primarily participants and fans, in the tainted FAI.

They linked pay grades to that of a general secretary working in public service, meaning the maximum payable per year to Hill was €216,000.

Sport Ireland are the agency that acts as a conduit between the Government and sporting bodies.

Part of their brief is arranging audits of organisations in receipt of tax-payer funding. Their concerns have triggered a halt being put on state funding which the FAI are more reliant than ever on given their €44m of debt and requests for financial support for their ambitious facilities plan.

The audit revealed that Hill was paid €12,000 in 2022 in lieu of holidays not taken despite this practice being outlawed in the staff handbook for the 220 employees.

Hill, who hasn’t relocated to Dublin from his London home three years into job, must also pay €8,500 in benefit in kind (BIK) on the expenses arising from his regular commutes.

Three board members, Paul Cooke and John Finnegan from the football side, as well as independent director