JOHN DELANEY has resigned as executive vice-president of the FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION OF IRELAND (FAI), marking the formal end to his 14-year tenure with the national governing body.
DELANEY served as chief executive from 2005 until March of this year, when he became executive vice-president following a restructure at the FAI.
The 51-year-old has had little direct involvement with the FAI since April after he announced he would vacate the newly-created position amid controversy over a personal “bridging loan” he gave to the governing body in 2017.
DELANEY, a former vice-president of the OLYMPIC COUNCIL OF IRELAND (OCI), stepped aside from the role days before he was due to appear before a Parliamentary Committee to be questioned over the €100,000 (£86,000/$112,000) loan.
He then assumed the position of executive vice-president, a move made to ensure he retained his seat as a member of the UEFA Executive Committee.
In a statement, the FAI confirmed the departure of DELANEY, a controversial figure throughout his association with the body, but said neither party would make any further comment.
Irish Minister for Sport SHANE ROSS criticised the FAI for refusing to reveal details of the severance package given to Delaney.
“It’s absurd after all the controversy that we shouldn’t know exactly what the pay-off is,” ROSS told RTE.
DELANEY has been at the centre of public scrutiny since a Sunday newspaper broke the story that he had given the FAI some of his own money.
The FAI claimed DELANEY provided the loan to avoid breaking its €1.5 million (£1.3 million/$1.6 million) overdraft limit and to solve cash-flow issues in 2017.
DELANEY said the loan had been given to the FAI to “aid a very short-term cash flow issue” and claimed it was repaid in full two months later.
The loan represented the latest controversy involving DELANEY, who quit as a vice-president of the OCI – now called the OLYMPIC FEDERATION OF IRELAND – in 2016.
DELANEY’S resignation came following the ticketing scandal at the 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES IN RIO DE JANEIRO, largely involving then OCI President PATRICK HICKEY.
DELANEY insisted he had no role in the OCI’s ticketing arrangements when he announced his resignation.
