Northern Ireland football fans 'deserve better' after string of resignations from IFA appeals committee - MLA
Fans and taxpayers “deserve better” from the Irish Football Association (IFA) after a string of resignations from the governing body’s appeals committee, an MLA has said.
TUV’s Timothy Gaston says that the resignations raise “profound questions about how the organisation is being run” – as does a recent report citing a “lack of candour” from the body during an appeal by a local club.
Rachel Best KC recently quit her role as chair of the body – the third legally qualified chair to resign in less than two years. In the past year a further three independent members have also resigned. Ms Best says she stepped down solely due to the demands of her professional commitments.
The IFA said it had no comment to make on the resignations.
East Belfast FC, represented by Jamie Bryson, challenged the football authority over its involvement in running a lower tier league in the province.
The IFA set up the National Conference League to replace the Premier Intermediate league. The club had claimed it had not been informed in time - but the appeals committee rejected that and questioned the club's repeated legal challenges during the process.
In its judgement, the appeals committee said the use of the structure to challenge the wider structure of the IFA was “arguably oppressive” and “not appropriate”. They also said some appeals brought “have the hallmarks of a judicial review” and the body “is not a court of law set up to adjudicate on complicated legal disputes”.
The East Belfast FC appeal was dismissed. However, there was criticism of the IFA's conduct, with the panel criticising it for a “lack of candour” during part of the process, and saying part of the case being made by it was “a volte face and is entirely contradictory to the case previously made”.
Mr Bryson told the News Letter that the cases brought by clubs he represented were not about “complex and complicated legal questions” – saying “many are now questioning what the point of the appeals committee is at all”.
Mr Gaston said: “Suggestions that an Appeals Committee isn’t equipped to deal with cases simply cannot be ignored. Fans deserve better. In fact, the public of Northern Ireland deserve better”.
He added: “The sport is in receipt of significant sums of public money through the Northern Ireland Football Fund. I have no issue with a sport receiving its fair share of funding and in the context of monies going to the GAA it could correctly be argued that football is very much a poor relation.
“However, with public funding comes a public responsibility to ensure sport is run in a competent manner.
“I believe the IFA must now urgently address these issues, provide clarity on the circumstances surrounding these resignations and set out what steps are being taken to restore confidence in its processes.”