A FORMER FAI chief says it is “really sad” that women were subjected to alleged inappropriate behaviour by male coaches at a time that would have been remembered as a “golden era” in Irish football.
The Association today issued an apology following the RTE/Sunday Independent probe into FAS trainer Eamon Collins and ex-international team boss Mick Cooke.
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The men emphatically deny all of the allegations of inappropriate conduct.
Bernard O’Byrne, the ex-FAI CEO, who featured on the programme aired on Sunday night, said he was “still shocked” to hear the details of the cases as the women outlined.
He told the Irish Sun: “You couldn’t want anything like that to happen again to anybody. It’s really, really shocking.”
He said the alleged incidents happened at a time when the Irish men’s national team were enjoying major success.
O’Byrne added: “Back in the 90s, most of us would have thought that’s the golden era of Irish soccer, where we were all enjoying the Jack Charlton days and what came out of that.
“And behind all of that, this stuff was happening. It’s really sad and really shocking.”
The FAI’s Interim CEO David Courell apologised to the brave women who came forward and told of their experiences.
Mr Courell said: “We are sorry for what you had to endure, we’re sorry that anyone could have ever felt unsafe.
Multiple apologies
“We are sorry that the modern practices and reporting structures that we now have in place were not there for you when you needed them. And we’re sorry that anyone could have ever felt unsafe in Irish football.”
The FAI also addressed relationships between coaches and its players, saying it may be banned as part of the club licensing system.
Aoife Rafferty, the FAI’s People and Culture Director, said: “In time, we are looking at introducing it as a hard and fast rule through our club licensing structure.
“We’ve made it very clear to each club that best practice is no player-coach relationships.”
‘Time for action’
Both Cooke and Collins were issued with stand down notices by the FAI earlier this year once the allegations came to light.
Today, Aodhan Ó Ríordáin said a process must begin now to unearth any past abuses across all Irish sports.
The Labour TD, soon to be MEP, said: “I want to credit the women who spoke on the show, and who have been brave enough to lend their voice to other survivors of abuse.
“It’s time for action and for the voices of these women to be heard.”
