Stop the clocks, hold your breath, pause. The publication of the 2018 FAI accounts, together with the revised 2017 and the restated 2016 accounts, and all they will reveal about the financial position of the beleaguered FAI has been put back 24 hours.
At 9 30 pm last night, an email announcing the rescheduling of their publication was sent from FAI HQ.
“The Board of the Football Association of Ireland has decided at a meeting tonight to reschedule the announcement of the 2018 Annual Accounts and the Revised 2017 and Restated 2016 Accounts to Friday morning (December 6).”
“The Board has taken this decision to facilitate the signing-off of the accounts on Thursday and the presence of the entire Board at a press conference on Friday.”
That will give new Executive Lead Paul Cooke a further day to prepare for what is likely to be a tough but essential next step on the road back to good standing.
Elsewhere today we have covered the withdrawal of Three from their primary partnership with the Association in July of next year, as well as the unprecedented third party involvement of BDO in the distribution of €195,000 of Government money to support the development of the Women’s game.
It was, as is now the norm, some day in the rollercoaster life of the FAI.
Read More: Three Hangs Up on FAI Deal
Read More: BDO To Manage Government Funding for FAI
Read More; Cooke Steps Up amid Government Frowns
Image credit: Morgan Treacy, Inpho.ie