A SECOND COMPLAINT regarding alleged discrepancies in the FAI’s finances has been made to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE), TheJournal.ie has learned.
The first complaint was made two weeks ago after former CEO John Delaney said he issued his employers a personal cheque worth €100,000 in April 2017 which he described as “a once-off bridging loan to the Association to aid a very short-term cash flow issue”. That complaint was filed by Fine Gael TD Noel Rock.
In a letter to Sport Ireland on 20 March, the FAI said it had written to the ODCE to notify it about the short-term €100,000 loan that was omitted from its 2017 accounts.
The new complaint which was made in the last two weeks was made in relation to another matter regarding the FAI’s finances, it is understood.
Sport Ireland appeared before the Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport last week.
The body is the statutory agency that provides Exchequer funding to sporting organisations across the country, including the FAI. Last year, it gave the FAI almost €3 million.
It said it was not informed at any point about any problems with the FAI’s financial position.
Delaney said that the money was repaid in full in June 2017, and that it was the only occasion on which he issued the association with a loan. Sport Ireland said that the FAI did not give it a full explanation about all circumstances surrounding this loan.
Addressing this aspect this afternoon, the FAI’s president Donal Conway said in a statement: “The Association has advised Sport Ireland that we are moving as fast as we can, being mindful of the complexity involved and the need to ensure that all statements we make are accurate and processes are fair and robust.
“We also advised that some recent comments made by the FAI did not accurately reflect the Board’s level of awareness of the existence of the €100,000 issue in 2017. This matter is being considered by the Board sub-committee.”
The FAI has also been in correspondence with the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and said it “remains available to assist in dealing with its particular inquiries”.
The ODCE was contacted for comment but said it could not comment on individual cases.
The FAI was contacted for comment on this matter.
In the latest episode of our weekly podcast, The Explainer, we look at the reasons why the FAI’s John Delaney has been the focus of media attention of late. Find more ways to listen here.
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