THE FAI’S INTERIM CEO David Courell has said that the board of the sporting body is “deeply shocked” by allegations made by female players in last night’s Girls in Green documentary and that the FAI will continue to support an investigation being undertaken by An Garda Síochána. 

Courell was speaking following last night’s broadcast of the documentary and a series of articles by journalists from The Sunday Independent/RTÉ which detailed allegations by female players in the 1990s about unwanted sexual advances, sexual abuse and bullying by a number of coaches. 

The FAI has confirmed that three named coaches have been issued with “stand down” orders, preventing them from being involved in football related activities. 

Courell would not confirm the names of the individuals when asked at a press conference today, but the individuals were named in the documentary. 

Courell said that the FAI were first made aware of the allegations earlier this year and that the organisation has met with the women. 

In a statement, he described women who have come forward as “courageous” and said that he was “angry” at the revelations.

Finally, to the women affected by this, we hear you. We are sorry for what you have had to endure.

“We are sorry that the modern practices and reporting structures that we now have in place, were not there for you when you needed them. And we’re sorry that anyone could have ever felt unsafe in Irish football.”

 In addition, Courell outlined the responses taken by the FAI including: making “professional support” available to the women affected, providing a report to Túsla, taking guidance from An Garda Síochána and setting up an independent helpline for individuals to report concerns. 

“Please do avail of these options, so we can ensure you get the engagement and support that you need,” he said.

The helpline is being administered by independent service Raise a Concern, with the FAI’s People and Culture Director Aoife Rafferty saying that reports made to the helpline are not automatically passed onto gardaí. 

“We’re all mandated, if anything from an underage perspective is reported, that Túsla need to be notified. In relation to any other allegations raised, Raise A Concern will encourage those who do report it to contact An Garda Síocháha. That’s really important, Raise a Concern cannot report it, that is the individuals themselves and they will be supported and guided through that process.”

Rafferty said that six further contacts have been made to the helpline since it has been launched but that “no serious issues” had been reported.

She added that details of the concerns raised would not be made public but that the FAI would be transparent about the number of contacts it received. 

Courell told reporters today that when the FAI was made aware of the allegations it conducted its own inquiries, leading to the stand down orders being issued. He said that the investigation has not been concluded but due to the involvement of gardaí it was deemed that the FAI should take guidance from authorities about “the next steps”. 

“The association is fully committed to standing up whatever is required to ensure we arrive at a full conclusion on this matter,” he said. 

In last night’s documentary, reference was made to concerns being raised at the time about inappropriate relationships on a specific team. 

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Asked today whether any records have been uncovered relating to these concerns, Rafferty said that records had been found but they did not suggest an investigation had taken place.  

Yesterday’s documentary by journalists Mark Tighe of the Sunday Independent and Marie Crowe of RTÉ had come following two years of investigation, with Minister for Sport Thomas Byrne describing it as a “harrowing” and “very important programme”. 

“Justice must now take its course, and I am very mindful that a Garda investigation is underway at present,” he tweeted. 

“In every sport, safeguarding must be paramount, and I will be working with Sport Ireland to ensure that everything that should be done in Ireland today regarding safeguarding is actually being done.”

Last week, gardaí confirmed that an investigation is now underway into “at least one complaint” while it continues to speak with a “number of potential complainants” over the issue.

The contact numbers for Raise A Concern are 01 6107929 or 086 0299929. Individuals can also email football@raiseaconcern.com.