John Delaney to earn ‘substantially less’ in new FAI role

John Delaney’s salary in his new position of executive vice-president of the FAI will be “substantially less” than what he earned in his previous role, the association has said.

In a statement confirming that the long-time chief executive will be part of an FAI delegation that will attend a meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Sport in April, the association said Delaney “has taken a substantial reduction in salary after taking up the new role”.

Delaney’s salary as chief executive was understood to be €360,000 plus expenses, which followed a 10 per cent pay reduction announced in 2012.

In 2011, it emerged that Delaney would take a 7.2 per reduction on the €431,687 he had earned a year earlier. The statement did not mention how much Delaney would be paid for his new role.

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The news that Delaney would stand aside from the role of chief executive was confirmed on Saturday night after the Republic of Ireland beat Gibraltar 1-0 in their opening Euro 2020 qualifier at the Victoria stadium.

The move comes amid scrutiny of his financial relationship with his employer after it was revealed that he had written a cheque for €100,000 to the association in April of 2017. It was also reported that he subsequently invoiced the organisation for a similar amount two months later.

FAI chief operating officer Rea Walshe has taken over as interim chief executive as the association looks to appoint someone full-time to the post.

Sunday’s statement outlines a timeline for the appointment, with interviews expected in early May ahead of an intended unveiling at the FAI’s AGM in Trim, Co Meath in July.

An FAI spokesman said: "As was stated last week, John Delaney will be part of the delegation that meets with the Oireachtas Committee on Sport next month.

“That meeting is currently scheduled for April 10th and the FAI has written to the committee offering to bring the meeting forward to April 3rd.

“As regards John Delaney’s salary in his new role as Executive Vice-President, the FAI can confirm that the salary is substantially less than the salary he previously received as CEO.”

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was asked about the recent reports relating to Delaney during an interview on RTÉ on Sunday and said there are “definitely questions to be answered”.

He said the Government wants to be sure that any State funding provided to the FAI is used to support the programmes the money was intended for. He also said he was not aware during his tenure as minister for transport, tourism and sport of an arrangement whereby the FAI paid the rent on properties Delaney lived in.