pablo
10-11-2002, 18:00
from the Irish Independant
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From: The Irish Independent
Sunday, 10th November, 2002
Report's damning conclusion to provoke another crisis among soccer chiefs after World Cup shambles
THE performance of senior officers and executive staff in the FAI has come in for severe criticism in the Genesis report into the Saipan World Cup fiasco. So damning is the analysis of the performance of the association in preparing for the World Cup that it is expected to precipitate yet another crisis in the top echelons of football's ruling body, already riven with bitter feuding.
The report's authors, Glasgow-based management consultants Genesis, concentrate their fire on FAI management as a whole, rather than on any single individual.
They highlight organisational shortcomings in a number of key areas. The authors of the report did not see it as their job to find a scapegoat, but their conclusions will certainly be used within the FAI as ammunition by those who feel that somebody has to carry the can and resign.
The report also backs Roy Keane's fury over the absence of basic items in Saipan when the team arrived, but it does not come down on either side in the row that led to Ireland's captain being sent home.
After yesterday's meeting, spokesman Declan Conroy said the officers had unanimously agreed to push for the recommendations of the report to be implemented. They were also committed to making it public at the earliest possible opportunity.
He said the report was "extremely impressive and detailed" and had provided "very clear conclusions and recommendations". There is criticism in the report of the fact that when the World Cup squad arrived on the holiday island, there was no training gear none of the new Adidas footballs specially commissioned for the World Cup. Medical equipment, including players' strappings, was missing, and there were no special isotonic drinks to help players adapt to the unaccustomed heat and humidity of Korea and Japan.
Powerful elements within the association critical of the current leadership are expected to use the report to seek at least one high-level resignation.
The report comes in the aftermath of last week's departure of Mick McCarthy, and only a year after the previous general secretary, Bernard O'Byrne, also left in controversial circumstances.
The wounds from that power struggle have never healed.
The FAI will hold a special board meeting this Tuesday, where the main findings of the report will be formally presented. This will be followed by a media briefing at 5pm.
The five-man officer board was given a briefing yesterday, including a slide presentation, at a special meeting in Kilkea Castle, Co Kildare.
Yesterday, one insider said: "I know a lot of what the consultants were told, and it was pretty damning stuff. But just how they weigh things up is important. There was always the danger of a whitewash."
The Genesis report was commissioned by the FAI as an independent root-and-branch examination of the Mick McCarthy/Roy Keane row and the circumstances which gave rise to the tensions that erupted into a full-scale war between manager and captain on the tiny Pacific island of Saipan.
The officer board of the association general secretary Brendan Menton and key elected officials Milo Corcoran, John Delaney, Kevin Fahy and David Blood met at Kilkea Castle, where they were handed a copy of the report and sat through an oral presentation with slides.
The report was compiled after dozens of interviews with players, management, officials and journalists.
It is understood that Alistair Gray, who headed up the Genesis team, also looked at the preparations of other teams at major tournaments and how much those preparations cost.
It is understood that the report does give some credit to the FAI because of its relatively modest financialresources.
But it will state that compared with teams like Sweden, Belgium and and Denmark, Ireland's World Cup effort was under-resourced financially and had far fewer staff on the ground to handle any crisis.
It is understood the report in findings of fact backs many of the criticisms made by captain Roy Keane, especially in relation to the provision of basic equipment in Saipan an issue that should have been properly addressed at a logistics meeting that took place early in 2002.
It is understood that the logistics meeting suggested that an advance party should go to Saipan to bring the training gear, the isotonic sports drinks and other essentials but in the final analysis, they failed to arrive in time.
It was the absence of gear that led to the first flashpoint at Saipan, when Keane erupted with rage. Critically, Mick McCarthy agreed with Keane's criticisms in relation to the gear and told the player that the FAI "had let him down".
As well as Keane's other complaints about the training facilities, there is also an implicit acknowledgement of the shortcomings in how the crisis was handled from a public relations perspective.
It also expected to suggest that, in future, more money must be spent in this area. Since the World Cup, the association has employed high-profile public relations specialists Declan Conroy and Trevor O'Rourke.
Early last week, general secretary Brendan Menton whose contract is up for renewal next summer expressed confidence that there would be more positives than negatives in the report.
An FAI spokesman insisted yesterday that the key recommendations of the report would be implemented.
"There is a lot of rumour and innuendo flying around, but I can categorically state that none of the officials nor the general secretary knew the full findings of the Genesis report until today [Saturday] at Kilkea Castle. Mr Maurice O'Connell and the Genesis team have been determined to protect the integrity of the report," he said.
"The positive aspect to this is that the FAI have asked experts in to give them a truthful assessment of their performance. It is independent and it will be implemented."
JEROME REILLY
~~~~~~~~~
http://home.eircom.net/news/National/story.asp?category=National&id=
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~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: The Irish Independent
Sunday, 10th November, 2002
Report's damning conclusion to provoke another crisis among soccer chiefs after World Cup shambles
THE performance of senior officers and executive staff in the FAI has come in for severe criticism in the Genesis report into the Saipan World Cup fiasco. So damning is the analysis of the performance of the association in preparing for the World Cup that it is expected to precipitate yet another crisis in the top echelons of football's ruling body, already riven with bitter feuding.
The report's authors, Glasgow-based management consultants Genesis, concentrate their fire on FAI management as a whole, rather than on any single individual.
They highlight organisational shortcomings in a number of key areas. The authors of the report did not see it as their job to find a scapegoat, but their conclusions will certainly be used within the FAI as ammunition by those who feel that somebody has to carry the can and resign.
The report also backs Roy Keane's fury over the absence of basic items in Saipan when the team arrived, but it does not come down on either side in the row that led to Ireland's captain being sent home.
After yesterday's meeting, spokesman Declan Conroy said the officers had unanimously agreed to push for the recommendations of the report to be implemented. They were also committed to making it public at the earliest possible opportunity.
He said the report was "extremely impressive and detailed" and had provided "very clear conclusions and recommendations". There is criticism in the report of the fact that when the World Cup squad arrived on the holiday island, there was no training gear none of the new Adidas footballs specially commissioned for the World Cup. Medical equipment, including players' strappings, was missing, and there were no special isotonic drinks to help players adapt to the unaccustomed heat and humidity of Korea and Japan.
Powerful elements within the association critical of the current leadership are expected to use the report to seek at least one high-level resignation.
The report comes in the aftermath of last week's departure of Mick McCarthy, and only a year after the previous general secretary, Bernard O'Byrne, also left in controversial circumstances.
The wounds from that power struggle have never healed.
The FAI will hold a special board meeting this Tuesday, where the main findings of the report will be formally presented. This will be followed by a media briefing at 5pm.
The five-man officer board was given a briefing yesterday, including a slide presentation, at a special meeting in Kilkea Castle, Co Kildare.
Yesterday, one insider said: "I know a lot of what the consultants were told, and it was pretty damning stuff. But just how they weigh things up is important. There was always the danger of a whitewash."
The Genesis report was commissioned by the FAI as an independent root-and-branch examination of the Mick McCarthy/Roy Keane row and the circumstances which gave rise to the tensions that erupted into a full-scale war between manager and captain on the tiny Pacific island of Saipan.
The officer board of the association general secretary Brendan Menton and key elected officials Milo Corcoran, John Delaney, Kevin Fahy and David Blood met at Kilkea Castle, where they were handed a copy of the report and sat through an oral presentation with slides.
The report was compiled after dozens of interviews with players, management, officials and journalists.
It is understood that Alistair Gray, who headed up the Genesis team, also looked at the preparations of other teams at major tournaments and how much those preparations cost.
It is understood that the report does give some credit to the FAI because of its relatively modest financialresources.
But it will state that compared with teams like Sweden, Belgium and and Denmark, Ireland's World Cup effort was under-resourced financially and had far fewer staff on the ground to handle any crisis.
It is understood the report in findings of fact backs many of the criticisms made by captain Roy Keane, especially in relation to the provision of basic equipment in Saipan an issue that should have been properly addressed at a logistics meeting that took place early in 2002.
It is understood that the logistics meeting suggested that an advance party should go to Saipan to bring the training gear, the isotonic sports drinks and other essentials but in the final analysis, they failed to arrive in time.
It was the absence of gear that led to the first flashpoint at Saipan, when Keane erupted with rage. Critically, Mick McCarthy agreed with Keane's criticisms in relation to the gear and told the player that the FAI "had let him down".
As well as Keane's other complaints about the training facilities, there is also an implicit acknowledgement of the shortcomings in how the crisis was handled from a public relations perspective.
It also expected to suggest that, in future, more money must be spent in this area. Since the World Cup, the association has employed high-profile public relations specialists Declan Conroy and Trevor O'Rourke.
Early last week, general secretary Brendan Menton whose contract is up for renewal next summer expressed confidence that there would be more positives than negatives in the report.
An FAI spokesman insisted yesterday that the key recommendations of the report would be implemented.
"There is a lot of rumour and innuendo flying around, but I can categorically state that none of the officials nor the general secretary knew the full findings of the Genesis report until today [Saturday] at Kilkea Castle. Mr Maurice O'Connell and the Genesis team have been determined to protect the integrity of the report," he said.
"The positive aspect to this is that the FAI have asked experts in to give them a truthful assessment of their performance. It is independent and it will be implemented."
JEROME REILLY
~~~~~~~~~
http://home.eircom.net/news/National/story.asp?category=National&id=
~~~~~~~~~