Soccer:The FAI has confirmed that a meeting has taken place today between chief executive John Delaney and Republic of Ireland team manager Giovanni Trapattoni.

The meeting at the Association’s headquarters in Abbotstown was described as “constructive” and comes in the light of the FAI Board of Management’s decision on Wednesday night to reaffirm the manager’s position.

A statement from the FAI read: “The meeting recognised that the Association and Giovanni have always enjoyed a solid relationship. It also dealt with some issues that needed to be addressed following Wednesday’s meeting of the FAI Board of Management and this was done in a workmanlike and professional manner”.

Commenting after the meeting, Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni said: “John and I met today to clarify the thoughts of the Board and these were agreed and confirmed by me. It was a useful and professional conversation and I thank him for this. During the meeting we discussed a number [of] points that were raised by the Board to help us continue to improve our work for the Association.”