The upcoming AGM on October 21 for the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) will fill various posts, including the roles of president and vice-president. However, an emergency meeting of the FAI board held over the weekend has resulted in a close vote to extend the deadline for election nominations. The board has requested the Chambers, which make up the General Assembly, to reconsider their nominations and propose new candidates.
It has come to light that all the candidates proposed before the nominations deadline were male. As a result, the FAI would fail to meet the gender balance requirements, as it necessitates the inclusion of at least 40% female candidates. Currently, the association has 36% female representation among its 11 directors, which puts it close to the mandated figure of 40%, but falls short of the required threshold.
In response to this issue, Minister Thomas Byrne had warned that sports bodies failing to meet gender balance requirements may face a reduction in state funding. The FAI had requested €517 million in state funding to support their ambitious strategic plan. However, the government is likely to continue emphasizing the importance of achieving gender balance, increasing the pressure on the FAI to deliver.
There is concern among some circles that the female directors at the board level predominantly come from the independently-nominated sector, rather than the broader “football family” category. Outgoing Independent chairperson Roy Barrett has expressed his desire for a female candidate from the football background to be proposed for his chairperson role.
Among the nominations for officer roles, including two candidates for president (vice-president Paul Cooke and challenger Joe O’Brien) and the unopposed vice-president candidate (John Finnegan), all are male. Additionally, the three new faces set to join the board are also male.
The FAI had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government, which played a significant role in the association’s financial recovery. As part of this agreement, the FAI is mandated to have a 40% female membership on its officer board by the end of 2023.
Earlier this year, there were conflicting statements from the FAI regarding the possibility of receiving “leeway” from the government on the 40% threshold and extending the deadline beyond 2023, based on the FAI’s higher female representation compared to other bodies like the GAA and IRFU. However, Barrett emphasized the importance of meeting the gender balance requirement and not taking a step back.
Barrett stated in January, “Within the constitution of the FAI that’s set in stone and has to be achieved, within the MOU that I signed, that those thresholds would be reached by the end of 2023,” and added, “If you take into account the funding requirement of the game, this is a minimum requirement for funding, I think it’s absolutely in the best interests of the football association to achieve that. Maybe for once we can be top of the class and not bottom of the class.”
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