FAI to vote on extending age-limit for serving officers

Existing rule debars an officer from remaining in his position past the age of 75

Delegates of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) will be asked tomorrow to back a proposal that would see the age-limit of their elected officers extended beyond 75 years.

The Emergency General Meeting (EGM), in recent years an established event to deal with rule changes ahead of the more ceremonial Annual General Meeting (AGM) in July, includes a proposal of alteration to Rule 14 (2).

This section deals with the age-limits of council members and officers. The FAI has only four officer positions, with these currently held by honorary secretary Michael Cody, treasurer Eddie Murray, president Paddy McCaul and vice-president Tony Fitzgerald.

Whereas the existing rule debars an officer from remaining in his position past the age of 75, the new proposal, if passed by a majority, would allow them to complete their four-year term after turning 75 during that period.

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There were no responses to requests put to the FAI for the ages of current office holders.

Meanwhile, the FAI's chief executive John Delaney insists he's not worried by the Republic of Ireland's slump to 70th place in the latest Fifa rankings doesn't concern him.

Unless there's a dramatic upturn in results over the next year, Ireland will enter the draw for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers as fourth or even fifth seeds.

Asked if this worst-ever ranking in the FAI’s history reflects the current state of Irish football, Delaney replied: “I wouldn’t agree with that. We’ve got some good players coming through.

“The fact that we’re seeded second in our European qualification group shows that the Fifa rankings sometimes don’t correlate to what is your actual ranking in football.”