The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) is working backwards when it comes to uniting a fragmented sport, according to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly.<\/p>\n
Deputy Farrelly, who\u2019s the party\u2019s sports spokesperson, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cNot for the first time, the FAI has decided that grassroots organisations should have no voice in the future of Irish football, presenting them with a binary of compliance with a summer timetable or a loss of funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s clear that the only losers in situations like this one are those who love the sport, and for whom the sport provides an outlet, a purpose, from hobby to passion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe FAI is refusing to acknowledge that 85% of grassroots organisations have no desire to commit to a unified timetable – there\u2019s a pervading fear that doing so could place unmanageable stresses on volunteers, coaches and referees, some of whom work with different sports during the conventional off-season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese concerns, despite being voiced on numerous occasions over the years, have been ignored.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody can be left behind here; the FAI must do everything they can to consolidate support before making rash decisions like this one – consultation must take place before announcing radical alterations to the status quo, not afterwards.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Schoolboys\u2019 and Girls\u2019 Association of Ireland (SFAI), which represents over 100,000 children across 32 leagues, has made it clear that it\u2019s been threatened with defunding if it does not comply with the new timetable – ultimatums like this one are not the way to progress our sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a coach of a team in the Kildare and District Underage League (KDUL), I understand how frustrating it is when plans like these aren\u2019t informed by those of us who have experience on the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve requested a meeting with FAI Grassroots Chief Ger McDermott to urge him to slow this process down until all voices are heard and incorporated into a plan which better reflects the sentiment of players, clubs and leagues around the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will continue to seek D\u00e1il speaking time on this matter, as I have been for a number of weeks – I\u2019ve written to the Minister for Sports to have a constructive conversation on how we might go forward, where I hope to represent the concerns of stakeholders.\u201d<\/p>\n
April 17th, 2025<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) is working backwards when it comes to uniting a fragmented sport, according to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly. Deputy Farrelly, who\u2019s the party\u2019s sports spokesperson, said: \u201cNot for the first time, the FAI has decided that grassroots organisations should have no voice in the future of Irish football, presenting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[396,549,7,683],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aidan-farrelly","category-fai","category-press-release","category-sports"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n