FAI Officials yesterday dismissed statements by Wimbledon chairman Sam Hammam that all but a handful of the association's top officials supported the club's proposal to relocate in Dublin.

Hammam made the claim in Dublin yesterday when, together with Jean Louis Dupont, a Belgian lawyer, and property developer Owen O'Callaghan, he briefed journalists on his version of the controversy which he is threatening to refer to the European Commission.

Hamman said that all 22 clubs in the National League supported Wimbledon's proposed move to Dublin and that it had attracted the goodwill of several prominent politicians.

However, FAI president Pat Quigley said: "I can state categorically that every member of the FAI's officer board rejects the Wimbledon proposal and I am not directly aware of any support for it within the association. "We are a big organisation and the lure of money will always entice some people to listen. It has caused splits within some clubs, but to my knowledge nothing has changed and the unanimous decision of all 22 clubs to oppose any move to relocate the club in Dublin still stands.

"Ever since this whole thing began we have not had one direct communication from Wimbledon - not one letter with the club's name on it - and you've got to ask why.

"When you aspire to do important business, you normally deal directly with head office, not the branch offices. And you have to query the motivation for that."

Bernard O'Byrne, the FAI's chief executive, was unavailable for comment on Hammam's latest claims, but earlier he confirmed that the Wimbledon issue was raised when he met Dr A J O'Reilly, the chairman of Independent Newspapers and a prominent member of DISC, before the FAI's a.g.m. in Athlone last summer.

He said Dr O'Reilly was told of the association's trenchant opposition to FA Premiership football in Ireland and stressed that the primary purpose of the meeting, arranged through a third party, was to discuss the question of funding a new purpose-built stadium in the Dublin area.