UEFA has accepted the resignation of John Delaney from his position as a member of its Executive Committee.
His last formal role with the European Football governing body was at the draw for the U17 European Championships held at the Aviva Stadium last March, just before he resigned from his position at the time of Executive Vice President at the FAI.
This is the last of his formal engagements within the world of football following agreement on a departure package from the FAI which was reached towards the end of 2019.
When he was elected to the position in April 2017 his tally of 48 votes among his peers was the second-highest of the eight elected to the group.
Delaney’s resignation follows that of the former President of the German FA Reinhard Grindel last year. His position on the Executive Committee will be filled in March with fellow German Rainer Koch the only nominee for election.
The deadline for the nominations was January and no detail on Delaney’s replacement has been suggested. While a like for like replacement of a German representative was always likely it may be a while yet before Ireland gets back to the representative table though you’d never know.
The UEFA statement announcing Delaney’s stepping down was fulsome in paying tribute for his having “played a leading role in helping UEFA to achieve many things. He was instrumental in the expansion of the EURO to 24 teams, which proved such a success in 2016. Several teams that may not otherwise have qualified proved that they have a contribution to make on the biggest stage, with Wales’ run to the semifinals and Iceland’s elimination of England standing out as examples of this.”
“He was an important figure in the move to centralise the TV rights across national team competitions – something which has benefitted all UEFA member associations and which was rolled out into the new UEFA Nations League tournament,” continued the statement before concluding by wishing him well in the future.
There was no formal comment from either the FAI or the department of Transport, Tourism and sport with attention at both focused instead on the future and the appointment last night of Gary Owens as the new interim CEO.
Delaney’s future will be a footnote now to the moves aimed at restoring stability and confidence in the FAI.
He is believed to be working on unspecified consultancy projects for a leading Irish businessman outside of the state at present.
Read More: Owens Appointed Interim CEO at FAI