The damning criticism of the Football Association of Ireland contained in the independent report into the events at the World Cup and the FAI's day-to-day operation goes far beyond what was expected. Even those with only a remote interest in soccer expected that the FAI would face severe censure over its handling of events in Saipan, but few anticipated that the report would reserve its most scathing criticism for the association's inability to run a modern, professional sporting body.
The three-month investigation has revealed a picture of poor organisation, lack of leadership and failure - bordering on incompetence - in dealing with the fallout from the Roy Keane-Mick McCarthy fiasco. The findings are humiliating for the association.
Players, management and supporters fully understood the achievement of reaching the World Cup finals from one of the most difficult qualifying groups. Everybody had a right to expect that when the Republic of Ireland left Dublin last May everything would be in place for a team about to compete on sport's greatest stage.
The six-month period between qualifying and leaving for the World Cup finals gave the FAI ample time to make sure that the complex logistics of setting up training camps, booking hotels, organising press relations and meeting the needs of individual players would be on a par with most similar-sized European nations. The association failed abjectly in almost all of these areas.
The FAI then lurched from one disaster to another when attempting to deal with the Keane affair. Irrespective of the rights and wrongs of that debacle, it probably would not have arisen if the FAI had taken the simple step of sending an advance party to the training camp in Saipan to make sure that everything was in order ahead of the squad's arrival.
The report prepared by Scottish sports consultants, Genesis, under the chairmanship of Maurice O'Connell, does not apportion blame to any individuals for this litany of errors but its impact has already led to the resignation of general secretary Brendan Menton. It is to his credit that he accepted the need for the fundamental changes at Merrion Square that will move the organisation onto a more professional level. However, it may be some time before the public can be convinced to disregard Roy Keane's almost prophetic pre-World Cup observation about the FAI: 'Fail to prepare, prepare to fail'.