The FAI Board of Management meeting likely to decide the fate of chief executive Fran Rooney, and several of the associations officers, is nearing it's seventh hour at the Citywest Hotel late tonight.
The 22-strong committee gathered at Citywest this afternoon where they were due to consider rule changes intended to pave the way to a radically altered management structure. Instead, the widely reported problems between Rooney and his critics amongst the officer board are believed to have dominated the agenda.
Rooney and the five FAI officers held a private talks for 2.5 hours from 3 p.m. before joining the rest of the Board of Management for the meeting proper. No details from either meeting have been made available as yet.
Rooney's management style and contract demands are said to have caused severe tensions within the leadership of the organisation and the current row is such that resignations from one side or the other are believed to be both unavoidable.
The problems emerged when a number of aspects of the contract negotiations were leaked last week. Supporters and critics of the association's chief executive blame each other for the leak with one side claiming the intention was to undermine the new man by exaggerating the scale of the claim. The other camp insists reports that he would resign if his terms weren't met were meant to inject a sense of urgency into the process.
While John Delaney has supported the chief executive, a majority of the association's officer board have opposed what they view as excessive demands in relation to bonuses by the man recruited to lead the organisation five months ago but, they insist, the problems go further, with Rooney's management style also representing a major source of dissatisfaction.
There are counter claims from the Rooney camp of conservatism amongst the officers and, in particular, opposition to the implementation of the Genesis report, although these allegations are strongly denied.