BEFORE unveiling their new senior team manager Heimir Hallgrimsson on Thursday, the FAI addressed the historical sex allegations dating back to the 1990s that afflicted the women’s game.
Before the 57-year-old Icelandic coach could introduce himself to the media, interim CEO David Courell wanted to comment on the serious allegations – which followed a joint Sunday Independent/RTE investigation - and answered questions around the timing of Hallgrimsson’s unveiling.
The Ireland women’s team are scheduled to play England in a Euro 2025 qualifier on Friday – a match that will undoubtedly be overshadowed by the decision to present Hallgrimsson to the media 24 hours earlier.
“While I’m very pleased to make this announcement, I do want to acknowledge that it has come during a difficult week in which the association has been dealing with very serious allegations relating to historical abuse of women in Irish football,” said Courell.
“Please know our preference would have been to make this announcement at a different time but due to a range of factors we had to proceed today.
“We communicated this to the group of women in advance and we have asked for their understanding.
“I wish to stress that we do not want to diminish or try to move on from what is a matter of the utmost seriousness. Despite today being an important day for Irish football, those courageous women remain at the forefront of our thoughts, and we reiterate our support for them and commit to ensuring it remains the top priority for the association.”
The FAI’s Director of Football Marc Canham echoed Courell’s sentiments before going on to defend the delay in finding Stephen Kenny’s successor - which took 231 days - but acknowledged announcing “early April” as the date when the identity of the new manager would be known was wrong.
Canham said: “I think if we had our time again, and I acknowledged this in April in our video and I acknowledge it again today, we wouldn’t communicate it in that way.
“We hoped that we could do that. We recognise and take responsibility that if we had our time again, we would have said from the very outset and very consistently the whole time, the focus was on getting the right person for the job however long that takes.”
Canham insisted Hallgrimsson was their number one target but that they had to cede to his request to manage at the Copa America with Jamaica.
The Reggae Boyz crashed out of the tournament on July 1 - suffering three straight group defeats - and just over a week later, the FAI was in a position to announce him as their new manager.
Canham said: “He was the outstanding candidate for the role based on a number of factors. Firstly he has fantastic experience at international level, national teams, with two countries: Iceland and most recently Jamaica.
“He has a track record of progression in tournaments evidenced by most notably Iceland in Euro 2016. He has also demonstrated a history of moving teams up the rankings which is significant for where we are as a senior men’s team.
“Over the course of his time with Iceland they reached their highest FIFA ranking of 18th. His time with Jamaica saw the team rise up the world rankings also. He also has a track record of creating the right environment for teams to maximise potential of the players and achieve results on the pitch.”
