The Board of the FAI met today and considered the implications of non-qualification of the international team for the World Cup in 2006. The Board also assessed the prospects of achieving success in future European Championship and World Cup campaigns in the context of the development of the game in Ireland.
Following its meeting, the Board announced that the FAI is to recruit a new international manager to succeed Brian Kerr whose contract expired at the end of the World Cup 2006 campaign.
The Board thanked Brian Kerr and his technical staff for their commitment and energy demonstrated during almost three years in charge. “The Board fully recognises the dedication and passion applied by Brian and his support team in their quest to gain qualification for the major Championships”, Delaney said.
“The Board also acknowledged both Brian and Chris Hughton’s contributions to the game in their previous roles – Brian through his involvement in the development of the game across the underage and Technical areas and Chris as a distinguished player for many years”, he added.
Commenting on the decision, FAI Chief Executive Officer John Delaney said the Board’s view was that the decline in FIFA world rankings, UEFA standings and non qualification for the World Cup 2006 were key issues for the Association. He said “the downward trend in our rankings and seedings has been very disappointing and will make qualification for future tournaments considerably more difficult and that has knock-on consequences for the development of the game”.
Delaney said that everyone involved in football is disappointed that Ireland failed to qualify for the World Cup and reap the benefits of our involvement in terms of interest in the game and increased participation across the country. As an organisation, we have invested heavily over the past year to progress the game at all levels to bring more and more people into the game. We now have more people taking part in football than any other team sport but to further develop the game, success on the international scene is an important catalyst.
Looking to the future, Delaney said “our Under 17 team recently qualified for the Elite Phase of the UEFA Championships, our Under 19 side are now also qualified after tonight’s game in Cork while the long term Emerging Talent Programme for young players is set to pilot in the coming months”.
A Board sub-Committee has been charged with making recommendations to the full Board in respect of a new manager for the international team.
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Originally Posted by Noelys Guitar
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