The FAI drew a public line in the sand on the Wembley video controversy with a statement issued late last night declaring it considers the matter to be ‘closed’.
“Earlier this week issues regarding content shared with the senior Ireland men’s team ahead of the recent friendly against England at Wembley Stadium were brought to the attention of the FAI,” it said.
“Following this development, the FAI decided it was appropriate to look into the matter. Since then the FAI has had discussions with a number of staff members and players, including the team manager, Stephen Kenny.”
“The Board has accepted the explanations provided and considers that the matter is now closed.”
It would be normal after a sustained burst of activity that a review of all aspects of the way the international team operated be conducted and there will be full time to do so now ahead of the opening Qualification games for the 2022 World Cup next March.
The draw for those takes place in Qatar on December 7th which will give a shot of excitement into the prospect of who we will have to play against. There will also be a prospect of getting back to stadia at some point in 2021 and the beauty of sport is that the anticipation and hope often erase the memory of poor performance.
That level of performance has been disappointing through the first eight games of Stephen Kenny’s reign though but for the width of a crossbar, we could have been getting into a fevered excitement about playing in the Euro’s next summer on home soil.
There are always winners and losers and it is our turn to play the latter for now.
It has been a desperate two years for Irish football but it has survived intact and now the new regime of management on and off the pitch will have time to breathe and re-emerge in the new year to give hope of better things to come.
Sport for Business Partners
