The John Delaney Thread

[DannyInvincible]

I don't see that FIFA had a legal case to answer

Nor I, although why pay us off so handsomely? Was the continued negative publicity going to do FIFA that much damage? We're pretty small fish, like; it wasn't as if the World Cup was going to miss us. I don't think anyone seriously believed there'd be any action to overturn Henry's wrondoing either (despite Delaney's fanciful requests; was the "team 33" thing not said half-jokingly though before Blatter blurted it out to the media?), because the legal infrastructure simply wasn't there, nor would it have been practically viable. I'd have expected the controversy to die down, as it did, although possibly I'm underestimating FIFA's paranoid concern over bad PR. Then again, casually throwing around money doesn't seem to be that big a deal at the top of FIFA either.

Was the case going to be lodged with CAS, I wonder?

[DeLorean]

Yeah we are pretty small fish but it was a massive global story, the controversy was far bigger than us. The fact that we are only little Ireland probably added to it in a sense, because it was the little guy getting so blatantly rode for everybody to see. If Germany or Italy had been the victims, the worldwide sympathy would probably have been far less, you win some you lose some kind of thing, but most neutrals wanted Ireland to beat France, or at least had sympathy for us losing in those circumstances. FIFA parting with loose change like €5m wouldn't knock a stir out of them.

I'm a bit confused about the 33rd team thing as well. I know Blatter made a holy show of us at the time but I thought we had some semi-logical reason for the request, while being fully aware it was logistically impossible and never a runner?

[Stuttgart88]

No, they're not.

[osarusan]

Was there any reason the FAI wouldn't have celebrated this 5 million windfall at the time? Usually the get their successes in the media.

Unless part of a gag order following a settlement (here's 5 million to shut up about the handball and Blatter's response, but say nothing).

Was the case even related to the handball or events in the aftermath? I can't think of any that would have warranted a legal case.

Quite interesting actually.

[DannyInvincible]

I'm a bit confused about the 33rd team thing as well. I know Blatter made a holy show of us at the time but I thought we had some semi-logical reason for the request, while being fully aware it was logistically impossible and never a runner?

Just checking back: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/8388671.stm


"When we asked for that we knew there was very little chance of that happening.

"We asked because we wanted to have them respond in a measured way, and see what they had to say.

"After all Mr Blatter was responsible for the (match) official.

"He didn't say anything about the appalling mistake the official made to miss a blatant handball."

Indeed, the request wasn't made with the expectation that it would be granted; it was made simply to force FIFA to recognise the situation by having to at least officially consider it on the basis that it was made, no matter how feasible or unfeasible it was.

[DeLorean]

Oh right, I might have been giving them too much credit by suggesting it was semi-logical so. Surely the/a request to have the match replayed would have carried the same weight, without the side effect of us looking like complete douchebags.

[KK77]

Sad stuff really mind you it got McShane off the hook. As Eamo would say you wouldn't see it up in the park on a Sunday morning.

[seanfhear]

Blatter should have gone for the team Ireland 33

He could then claim from there after that numbers just weren't his thing and kept the dosh rolling in.

[DannyInvincible]

Oh right, I might have been giving them too much credit by suggesting it was semi-logical so. Surely the/a request to have the match replayed would have carried the same weight, without the side effect of us looking like complete douchebags.

Some other comments from the time: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/republic-of-ireland/6722295/World-Cup-2010-Ireland-may-get-compensation-over-Thierry-Henry-handball.html


On Thursday Fifa president Blatter also said there would be no financial recompense for the FAI but he did, however, offer the curious prospect of an award to try to soothe damaged Irish sensibilities.

"If you start to compensate teams that are not qualified then there are others that are coming too," the Fifa president told a news conference.

"But when it comes to this final match where all the world saw the obvious foul play, then there may be moral compensation. We will have a look at that."

Asked what he meant by moral compensation, Blatter said it could be a special award or a prize.

[TonyD]

Oh right, I might have been giving them too much credit by suggesting it was semi-logical so. Surely the/a request to have the match replayed would have carried the same weight, without the side effect of us looking like complete douchebags.

Even asking for a replay wasn't a runner (though not as cringe-makingly stupid as the "team 33" nonsense.) What sort of precedent would it have set ? After all, Ireland were not the first, and won't be the last, to have suffered from a plainly wrong refereeing decision. You can't go replaying matches every time video evidence shows the match officials got it wrong.

[DeLorean]

Yeah totally agree, just meant it would have been a more normal request. Games have been replayed over injustices and other factors in the in the past, if both teams are agreeable. That Arsenal Sheffield United FA Cup game comes to mind, albeit different circumstances.

[tetsujin1979]

We certainly wouldn't have been the first team to ask for a replay based on a refereeing error, but the way Blatter brought it into the public domain, as a joke in a speech, was uncalled for.
Unsurprisingly, the FAI didn't vote in his favour yesterday

[Gather round]

the way Blatter brought it into the public domain, as a joke in a speech, was uncalled for. Unsurprisingly, the FAI didn't vote in his favour yesterday

Blatter turned a minor PR embarrassment for FIFA into an irrestistible gag with the gormless FAI as punchline. The equivalent of Willy Gallas's goal-line tap=in, if you like.

BBC speculating yesterday that UEFA voted 40-10 against Sepp, with three abstentions.

Yesterday's glamor friendly clearly should be replayed at the Estadio Bernabeu or Camp Mou with free travel for all NI fans. After all, there was a clear throw-in in the run-up to our goal and a blatant foul leading to theirs.

[Closed Account 2]

Even asking for a replay wasn't a runner (though not as cringe-makingly stupid as the "team 33" nonsense.) What sort of precedent would it have set ? After all, Ireland were not the first, and won't be the last, to have suffered from a plainly wrong refereeing decision. You can't go replaying matches every time video evidence shows the match officials got it wrong.

To a degree a precedent had already been set. In September 2005 Uzbekistan played Bahrain in a World Cup (WC2006) qualifier. The Uzbeks went 1-0 up and were awarded a penalty. They scored from the pen to, seemingly, make it 2-0, but the ref disallowed the goal because he deemed that some of the Uzbek players had encroached (into the box) before the kick was struck. He gave a free kick to Bahrain instead, which is incorrect (the penalty should have been re-taken). The Uzbek players protested, the match ended 1-0 and at the end of the game the Uzbek Football Federation complained to FIFA. I guess the Uzbekistanis were hoping for a 3-0 forfiture or perhaps a one-off penalty kick before kick-off in the second leg. Instead FIFA ordered a replay, this replay (played a month later) was drawn 1-1, the second leg (in Bahrain) ended 0-0 so in the end the Bahrainis went through and played (and lost to) Trinidad and Tobago in the AFC-CONCACAF playoff.

So, in a sense, there was a precident for a match being replayed as a result of a refereeing error in a World Cup Play-off.

[DeLorean]

Interesting. Even more reason to pursue that route instead of the loopy 33rd team suggestion. Did the FAI even research possible precidents?

[Stuttgart88]

A recent England ladies match against Norway(?) had the last couple of minutes replayed. England took a penalty and scored I think, but a player had encroached so the ref gave a free out. duh.

The game was restarted at the same point (just before full-time) a day or two later with a re-taken penalty, which should have been the correct decision in the first place.

My guess is that an incorrect application of the rules is what justified the replay decision, rather than missing an obvious offence.

[CraftyToePoke]

Yes, that's the line in it, I think, it was referee failing to apply the rules rather than failing to spot something.

[osarusan]

Interesting. Even more reason to pursue that route instead of the loopy 33rd team suggestion. Did the FAI even research possible precidents?

According to this, yes.

http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/ireland-cites-uzbekistan-bahrain-decision-in-appeal/?_r=0

I remember that at the time a disctinction was made between errors of omission and errors of commission.

The distinction being that there are clear technical errors (such as the incident from the Uzbekistan Bahrain match) which are not open to interpretation, and there are errors in decision-making by the referee, which may not always/often be technical errors.

In the case of Henry's handball, the referee and all the assistants somehow missing it was not a technical error in the way the other game was.

I do not know if FIFA entertained any appeal enough to dismiss it on this point though - it was just something I remember from the time.

[DannyInvincible]

Would missing a handball constitute a referee error in the same sense as outlined above by edmundo though? I have a feeling the error would have to be on an objective or statutory matter (where the ref has made a call based on his subjective perception but has applied the law incorrectly to that call), but open to correction on that. For example, it's unlikely FIFA would seriously consider an appeal to have a game replayed on the basis that a referee missed or judged less severe what was clearly-to-everyone-else a red-card-deserving foul by a later goal-scorer. An association might have better luck in an appeal, however, if a referee had awarded two yellow cards (without an accompanying red) in error to a player who later went on to score a winning goal when he obviously shouldn't even have been on the field after his second yellow. That's my thinking on it, but, as I say, open to correction.

Edit: I see a few other posts along similar lines have appeared since DeLorean's as I was typing up my own.

[CraftyToePoke]

Blatter to fall on his sword.
Let the jockeying for position in the new world order begin in earnest, John Delaney.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32982449

[Ciprian Marica]

I'm no FAI expert, but anyone else find it somewhat hypocritical to hear John Delaney sounding off about being "delighted" that Sepp Blatter is gone? His holier-than-thou attitude is somewhat nauseous, he'd hardly the cleanest football administrator out there himself

[Park_Lane]

I'm no FAI expert, but anyone else find it somewhat hypocritical to hear John Delaney sounding off about being "delighted" that Sepp Blatter is gone? His holier-than-thou attitude is somewhat nauseous, he'd hardly the cleanest football administrator out there himself

His brown nosing of Michel Platini is even worse. Cretin.


From the indo:

Asked about potential replacements, he said:

“He is Platini, he’s this great world footballer, he’s the President of UEFA he would get a lot of support within UEFA and possibly outside, but it’s up to Michel to put his name forward if he so wishes to do,” he said.

[colonelwest]

Admitted today they got a 5m bung in 2010 to shut up about that stupid handball fiasco.

Can anyone find the 2010 accounts/ annual report? Have found other years but no sign of 2010!

[osarusan]

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jun/04/fifa-paid-fai-after-thierry-henry-handball-john-delaney


The Football Association of Ireland chief executive, John Delaney, has confirmed that he accepted a payment from Fifa after Thierry Henry’s handball in the 2010 World Cup qualifying play-offs ended their hopes of qualifying for the tournament in South Africa. Delaney said the payment, reported to be €5m, was made so the FAI would not pursue legal action.

Speaking to RTE, Delaney claimed the payment was “a very good and legitimate deal” for the FAI but due to a confidentiality agreement would not confirm the amount received.

“We felt we had a legal case against Fifa because of how the World Cup play-off hadn’t worked out for us with the Henry handball,” Delaney said. “Also the way [Sepp] Blatter behaved, if you remember on stage, having a snigger and having a laugh at us. That day when I went in, and I told him how I felt about him, there were some expletives used and we came to an agreement.

“That was a Thursday and on Monday the agreement was all signed and all done. It’s a very good agreement for the FAI and a very legitimate agreement for the FAI, but I’m bound by confidentiality for naming the figure.”

What would the legal argument have been I wonder?

[tricky_colour]

Turns out it was Delaney who finally made Blatter move on.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/john-delaney-sepp-blatter-stared-at-my-partner-emma-and-said-i-approve-i-told-him-to-move-on-31278411.html

[tricky_colour]

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jun/04/fifa-paid-fai-after-thierry-henry-handball-john-delaney



What would the legal argument have been I wonder?

I'd say the money was just resting in his account.

[osarusan]

Turns out it was Delaney who finally made Blatter move on.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/john-delaney-sepp-blatter-stared-at-my-partner-emma-and-said-i-approve-i-told-him-to-move-on-31278411.html


"In 2009 I called him an embarrassment to FIFA and to himself," he said. "He called me over about that, across the table like I am talking to you, with one or two expletives."

"That was in a room. He said, 'No-one speaks to me like that', and I said, "well I do' and that was that."

Oh, my my, John!

swoon

[shakermaker1982]

I'm speechless.

I thought this was a joke/spoof when I first heard the news.

[seanfhear]

Could some one please implicate Denis O'Brien and Fine Gael in this.

We need the FBI in Ireland to rattle some cages and then put our crooks in them !

[The Fly]

Turns out it was Delaney who finally made Blatter move on.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/john-delaney-sepp-blatter-stared-at-my-partner-emma-and-said-i-approve-i-told-him-to-move-on-31278411.html

"In 2009 I called him an embarrassment to FIFA and to himself," he said. "He called me over about that, across the table like I am talking to you, with one or two expletives."

"That was in a room. He said, 'No-one speaks to me like that', and I said, "well I do' and that was that."




I'd love to have seen Keane's face reading that.

[Park_Lane]

God he is a knob, apparently Blatter was giving his missus the eye and Delaney told him to jog on.

"He met Emma, my partner, in Vienna recently. He stared at her for seven or eight seconds and he said, 'I approve of your new girlfriend'".

"I asked him to move on, move on please.

"She is a great girl, I love her very much, it was an extraordinary moment. If she was here she would tell you herself. He stared at her and I said 'move on' and he did."

He's like the kid in school that starts going out with a bird and then never shuts the fcuk about her. It's like Jesus Christ John - we get it , you have a bird now well done, now please shut up and do your job and stop squawking about your missus 24/7

[The Fly]

Admitted today they got a 5m bung in 2010 to shut up about that stupid handball fiasco.

Can anyone find the 2010 accounts/ annual report? Have found other years but no sign of 2010!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bpsj8HMCEAAtMk9.jpg

[BonnieShels]

So it was a loan apparently.

This was discussed last week, and that the loan was converted into a grant later on.

[nigel-harps1954]

So it was a loan apparently.

This was discussed last week, and that the loan was converted into a grant later on.

Definitely not a bribe. Definitely not.

[pineapple stu]

So the FAI got E5m?

I wonder did John get any for himself?

Just curious like.

[BonnieShels]

That is a an unjustfied allegation. I mean, it's a confidential agreement he can't talk about. At all. Ever. Tut Tut.

[DannyInvincible]

"The FAI Chief Executive was also asked this afternoon if he had ever been offered a bribe. Laughing, he said: 'No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Not on my salary!'" (http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2015/0604/705872-delaney-confirm-fifa-payment-to-fai/)

[MeathDrog]

He was dead right to take it.

[DeLorean]

It said on the news that the money just went towards the Aviva Stadium project and was fully reflected in their accounts/reports, according to the FAI.

[DeLorean]

Statement (http://www.fai.ie/domestic/news/fai-statement-on-%E2%82%AC5m-settlement-agreement-with-fifa)

[DannyInvincible]

Statement (http://www.fai.ie/domestic/news/fai-statement-on-%E2%82%AC5m-settlement-agreement-with-fifa)

It just doesn't make sense.

If it was a settlement to avoid legal action, why would the FAI have had to pay it back (until it was written off on account of Ireland failing to qualify for the 2014 World Cup)?

If it was a loan, then what about the supposed merits of the mysterious legal case and why do the FAI say the only condition was confidentiality?

It can't be both a loan and a settlement, can it?

[osarusan]

It said on the news that the money just went towards the Aviva Stadium project and was fully reflected in their accounts/reports, according to the FAI.

Who actually gets to see these accounts/reports? Are they made public?

[DannyInvincible]

FAI statement on Blatter's departure here: http://www.fai.ie/domestic/news/fai-reaction-to-blatter-departure


The Football Association of Ireland today welcomed the news that FIFA President Sepp Blatter has decided to step down.

Speaking today FAI CEO, John Delaney said,

“This is good news for world football and not before time. These are changes that we had called for and had hoped would come. We believe there is now an opportunity for real change and reform at FIFA.

“ It is important that this opportunity to change the culture within FIFA at the highest levels is not passed up.”

As Dan McDonnell noted on Twitter (https://twitter.com/McDonnellDan/status/605795671677894656), "no mention of the horrible cyberbullying Sepp has been subjected to on Twitter"...

[DeLorean]

Who actually gets to see these accounts/reports?

The independent auditors of course, can't get any more transparent than that. :)

[geysir]

He should have held out for 6 million.

[gastric]

It just doesn't make sense.

If it was a settlement to avoid legal action, why would the FAI have had to pay it back (until it was written off on account of Ireland failing to qualify for the 2014 World Cup)?

If it was a loan, then what about the supposed merits of the mysterious legal case and why do the FAI say the only condition was confidentiality?

It can't be both a loan and a settlement, can it?

It can be whatever the FAI determine it is until some degree of transparency develops. Even making the sports news over here in Oz. My sheer disrespect for this leadership grows even more. Please God, someone challenge Delaney and get rid of him. I know it's not going to happen sometime so, but we live in hope.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Making news everywhere. I'm remembering that play-off, watching it in a packed pub in Maynooth, and the sheer rage that enveloped everyone. Ireland would never - and I maintain, should never - have gotten a replay, but for the FAI to accept such a pitiful pay-off to quash any bad PR is just revolting. It isn't bad enough that Delaney is just generally incompetent and a buffoon, but he just doesn't care about football at all, just how much he can squeeze from the institutions surrounding it. He's like a parish pump Independent in a hung Dail, gleefully accepting every scrap sent his way by the people in charge until it no longer suits him. A leader with balls would have told the world "FIFA just tried to shut us up for 5 million".

Rotten, rotten, rotten.

[osarusan]

I'm not too bothered by it.

He got 5 million by whinging and blustering which we otherwise wouldn't have got at all (I don't think there can have been any legal case that would have achieved much).

It would be nice to be sure where it went though.

[BonnieShels]

It can be whatever the FAI determine it is until some degree of transparency develops. Even making the sports news over here in Oz. My sheer disrespect for this leadership grows even more. Please God, someone challenge Delaney and get rid of him. I know it's not going to happen sometime so, but we live in hope.

Fran Rooney anyone?

[Real ale Madrid]

I'm not too bothered by it.

He got 5 million by whinging and blustering which we otherwise wouldn't have got at all (I don't think there can have been any legal case that would have achieved much).

It would be nice to be sure where it went though.

You think it's ok to accept money for no apparent reason from the governing body? 5m which didn't warrant a note in the FAI statement of accounts. I mean it's unethical just for starters.