McDaid labels FAI treatment "shameful and disgusting" following expulsion
Credit: Extratime Team (ETPhotos)
An expected one hour meeting in the FAI Headquarters in Abbottstown on Saturday ran for nearly four and a half hours, before the decision to expel Derry City from League of Ireland football was announced.
Immediately following the ruling, a devastated and emotional Derry City chairman, Pat McDaid, described the treatment of their club as “absolutely shameful and disgusting”.
“What is the agenda? (against Derry City),” McDaid asked. “People need to come out and answer some questions about this. They can’t hide behind their desks or can’t hide behind statements. Everybody involved in this process today should hang their head in shame; I hope they can sleep in their bed,” he added.
Disgusting
“The whole situation today was disgusting,” McDaid continued. “We came down here at 12.30pm, (League Director) Fran Gavin and (Compliance Officer) Padraig Smith attempted to take me out of the room to do some sort of a deal outside of our legal consult. People can draw their own conclusions.
“When the meeting started, we were told we were here for a discussion, no disciplinary process had even been launched.
“I was told by three different people on Thursday that this association had decided to relegate this club. They’ve actually put us out of football. They haven’t even relegated us; they’ve put us out of football.”
Set-up
McDaid described their meeting with the FAI as a “complete set-up”. “We were given 24 hours for today’s notice. Our legal representatives requested, and we asked if we could be provided with any documentation that may be used or any evidence that may be submitted, he was refused. We weren’t given one bit of paper.”
“The meeting was set up to discuss a financial package for our club, to try to get players paid, to try to get bills paid, to try and get our club from not going out of business,” he added,
“We will question the legality of today’s meeting. We have been brought down here and hung, drawn and quartered. There was no investigation into anything. We haven’t been accused of anything, there has been no accusations.
“People say it is based on admissions by our football club. I was at that meeting (on Wednesday) with the vice chairman and there was absolutely no admissions made by our club, about anything.”
Mr. McDaid intends to make public the minutes of the meeting and admitted that they had recorded the minutes themselves because of the “lack of trust in the people governing football in Ireland.”
Second Unofficial Contracts
Mr. McDaid described the FAI's claims of 20 players on second unofficial contracts as “absolute rubbish” and “another insinuation about our club, with no evidence whatsoever”.
“The original contract we signed (in question) was in January 2008, and it was a holding contract, because the season hadn’t even started. We signed the official standard player’s contract with this player in February '08. It was in place for less than two weeks, until the proper registration forms could be completed,” he admitted.
FAI rules also state that any previous agreement between the parties is null and void once the contract is signed with the FAI.
“It disgraceful, absolutely disgraceful. We have fellas in our football club who don’t know what’s going to happen. Employees, directors, volunteers, and one of the best supports in Ireland, and nobody knows what’s going to happen.”
Pat McDaid also questioned why the FAI had “done nothing about it” despite having “that contract in their possession for almost three months now.”
Legal Challenge
“If there is any legal mechanism, north or south, we will be challenging this,” Mr. McDaid said. “We will not be accepting this, we are not accepting the judgement of the FAI today, and they’ve also told us that we don’t even have a right to appeal, anywhere. Shame on them, shame on every single one of them in that room today.
“I will ask the clubs in Tuesday night play off to examine their conscience before they play those games.
“They’ve put us out of business. A disgrace,” he concluded.
Immediately following the ruling, a devastated and emotional Derry City chairman, Pat McDaid, described the treatment of their club as “absolutely shameful and disgusting”.
“What is the agenda? (against Derry City),” McDaid asked. “People need to come out and answer some questions about this. They can’t hide behind their desks or can’t hide behind statements. Everybody involved in this process today should hang their head in shame; I hope they can sleep in their bed,” he added.
Disgusting
“The whole situation today was disgusting,” McDaid continued. “We came down here at 12.30pm, (League Director) Fran Gavin and (Compliance Officer) Padraig Smith attempted to take me out of the room to do some sort of a deal outside of our legal consult. People can draw their own conclusions.
“When the meeting started, we were told we were here for a discussion, no disciplinary process had even been launched.
“I was told by three different people on Thursday that this association had decided to relegate this club. They’ve actually put us out of football. They haven’t even relegated us; they’ve put us out of football.”
Set-up
McDaid described their meeting with the FAI as a “complete set-up”. “We were given 24 hours for today’s notice. Our legal representatives requested, and we asked if we could be provided with any documentation that may be used or any evidence that may be submitted, he was refused. We weren’t given one bit of paper.”
“The meeting was set up to discuss a financial package for our club, to try to get players paid, to try to get bills paid, to try and get our club from not going out of business,” he added,
“We will question the legality of today’s meeting. We have been brought down here and hung, drawn and quartered. There was no investigation into anything. We haven’t been accused of anything, there has been no accusations.
“People say it is based on admissions by our football club. I was at that meeting (on Wednesday) with the vice chairman and there was absolutely no admissions made by our club, about anything.”
Mr. McDaid intends to make public the minutes of the meeting and admitted that they had recorded the minutes themselves because of the “lack of trust in the people governing football in Ireland.”
Second Unofficial Contracts
Mr. McDaid described the FAI's claims of 20 players on second unofficial contracts as “absolute rubbish” and “another insinuation about our club, with no evidence whatsoever”.
“The original contract we signed (in question) was in January 2008, and it was a holding contract, because the season hadn’t even started. We signed the official standard player’s contract with this player in February '08. It was in place for less than two weeks, until the proper registration forms could be completed,” he admitted.
FAI rules also state that any previous agreement between the parties is null and void once the contract is signed with the FAI.
“It disgraceful, absolutely disgraceful. We have fellas in our football club who don’t know what’s going to happen. Employees, directors, volunteers, and one of the best supports in Ireland, and nobody knows what’s going to happen.”
Pat McDaid also questioned why the FAI had “done nothing about it” despite having “that contract in their possession for almost three months now.”
Legal Challenge
“If there is any legal mechanism, north or south, we will be challenging this,” Mr. McDaid said. “We will not be accepting this, we are not accepting the judgement of the FAI today, and they’ve also told us that we don’t even have a right to appeal, anywhere. Shame on them, shame on every single one of them in that room today.
“I will ask the clubs in Tuesday night play off to examine their conscience before they play those games.
“They’ve put us out of business. A disgrace,” he concluded.
About Brendan White
Brendan White is Extratime News Editor and is responsible for the news section of Extratime.ie. Brendan also covers matches in Dublin and Waterford. You can contact Brendan on twitter @whitebrendan. View Full Profile