The assistance being offered to the FAI by UEFA is to go deeper again with the organisation’s Finance Director taking on the task of overseeing financial matters at Abbottstown.
He will join Noel Mooney who arrives in Dublin on June 3rd for a period of six months and will take on the role of General Manager for Football Services and Partnerships.
That the Finance Director should devote specific time to Ireland at the busiest time of the UEFA Cycle one year out from the most complex European Championships ever to be staged speaks volumes to the importance attached to making sure that the FAI is seen to be in full recovery mode.
He will also be keen to be very much on top of any drawdown of the €10 million funding which UEFA has made available to the FAI as a means of shoring up its financial strength.
There has been no confirmation of whether Koller will be based full time in Dublin for a period of time or whether he will oversee the financial element of the different reports underway from his Swiss base.
Mooney will be here on a full-time basis through to November 30th.
The next key date for the FAI is next Friday, May 31st when a special Stakeholders Forum convened by Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross will take place at the Mansion House in Dublin.
Two weeks on from that will be the publication of an interim report from the Governance Review Group established by Sport Ireland and the FAI.
In between The Republic of Ireland Men’s team will play Denmark away and Gibraltar at home in Qualifying games for the Euro 2020 Finals.
A result in Copenhagen on June 7th would put an altogether more positive twist on the way that Irish soccer sees itself and is seen by the fans. The boost it would give to ticket sales, merchandise and sponsorship appeal would also be tangible.
UEFA, of course, remains completely neutral when it comes to cheering on any one team in particular over another but secretly they will no doubt be hoping that the FAI catches a break on its way back to good standing.
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