Who are the Irish Football/Soccer Supporters Association?

[pete]

Michael Nugent:


"The Irish Football Supporters Association, which is the body Alan Hunter is spokesperson for, and which represents soccer, GAA and rugby fans. I've spoken to Alan Hunter by phone over the past few days. I didn't know the organisation existed until this row emerged."

Though this needed a thread of its own in response to above.....

As far as i can see the IFSA or ISSA (depends on what newspaper you read) claims to have been setup in 1970 & represents 50,000 football, rugby & gaa supporters. I have only ever heard of them on 3 occasions:

- Looking for boycott of Ireland v Yugoslavia during Kosovo crisis i think.
- Looking for FAI boycott over the Roy Keane affair
- Looking for FAI boycott over Sky tv rights deal.

Seems strange that an organisation that claims to have 50,000 members has only one member in the public eye & looks like he been spokesperson for a look enough time. Also weird they represent gaa, rugby & soccer/football yet call themselves football/soccer supporters.

I think this Hunter guy just made up his own association with fictious members & just likes hearing his own name in the newspaper......

The hunt continues.....

;)

[pete]

soccercentral (http://www.soccercentral.ie/viewstory.asp?id=7469&mainheading=Republic+of+Ireland&viewstory=yes)

Not exactely an expose but I think confirms the guys a bluffer at best & lier at worst.

:rolleyes:

[patsh]

Originally posted by pete

Not exactely an expose but I think confirms the guys a bluffer at best & lier at worst.

:rolleyes:
I do think that anyone who thinks he speaks for "all" Irish soccer fans is chancing his arm.
I did not realise that he wanted the Yugoslavia boycotted, and without trying to get into a political argument, how come he had no problem with Ireland playing Saudi Arabia, (where the Sept 11 bombers came from) or the USA game, (the massive amount of blood on Bush's hands).
This guy has his own agenda I'd say, and is probably a wannbe Fianna Fail td..!!!;)

[brine2]

Yes, the Sep 11 bombers and Bin Laden happen to be Saudi Arabian nationals, but the Saudi Arabian government is actually an ally of the USA. Yugoslavia, on the other hand, were, as a nation, actively engaged in an international conflict at the time...

[pete]

The guy is a complete nutter. I'ce no problem him expressing his own opinion to the media but he misrepresenmting things if he cliams to represent 50,000 of his so called memebers.

Soccercentral seem to have been the only media org so far to even suggest he may not be who he claims to be. Are the rest of the media hacks tpp embarished or too lazy to admit they don't check their interviewees credentials?

:rolleyes:

[patsh]

Originally posted by brine2
Yes, the Sep 11 bombers and Bin Laden happen to be Saudi Arabian nationals, but the Saudi Arabian government is actually an ally of the USA. Yugoslavia, on the other hand, were, as a nation, actively engaged in an international conflict at the time...
If you want to have a political argument, brine2, you are on the wrong forum.
My point is that if you really were to look into it, you could probably find an excuse to not play every country in the world for political reasons.
Plus your point is both wrong and bizzarre.

[pete]

Not wanting to drag the politcal arguement out but sporting organisations usually follow the UN in terms of boycotting countries sporting teams. Thus is the reason Yugoslavia dropped from euro 92 (replaced by Denmark) during the war in bosnia but not at a later date during the Kosovo conflict.

[patsh]

Originally posted by pete
Not wanting to drag the politcal arguement out but sporting organisations usually follow the UN in terms of boycotting countries sporting teams.

OK, pete, but surely the whole point of this thread is the questioning of whether this IFSA/ISSA is a legitimate organisation at all, and even if it is, is it the role of supporters clubs to simply follow what a sporting organisation decides?
As I rememer it, the FAI would take no decision one way or the other, and forced the government to solve their problem for them by refusing to give the Yugoslav team visas.
So the sporting organisation (FAI) did not follow anyone's lead in this matter, and we had one person, claiming to speak for "50,000"? sporting fans demanding overtly political action.