Number one rule of public relations in times of scandal – sunlight is the best disinfectant. Trust the FAI to take it literally.
For the first time anyone can remember, they decided to hold a press conference outside the front door of their headquarters in Abbottstown to deal with the fallout from Girls In Green, the joint RTÉ Investigates/Sunday Independent report into historical allegations of inappropriate behaviour and unwanted sexual advances. Maybe they thought the July sunshine would provide some distraction.
Around a fortnight ago, the association launched a safeguarding awareness campaign called Play It Right. It went pretty much entirely unnoticed at the time and the first evidence anyone will have seen of it was here, in the blue cardboard placards propped up in the background as FAI Interim CEO David Courell and People and Culture Director Aoife Rafferty took questions.
We know now, of course, that it was a pre-emptive measure, something to point to when Sunday’s revelations landed in the public domain.
“Bullying, Verbal Abuse, Harassment, Swearing, Physical Abuse, Discrimination, Sexual Abuse – ARE ALWAYS WRONG.” So goes the wording on the Play It Right placards. The FAI’s job now is to make sure a dubious public takes them seriously when they say it.
Courell and Rafferty have both the blessing and the curse of being relatively new blood in this regard. A blessing, in that they can reasonably point out that all of this happened long before they joined the association and that they can deal with it baggage-free. A curse, in that basically the only thing anyone knows about them is that they work for the FAI, an already wounded entity in Irish life that is once again in the news for all the wrong reasons.
This scandal has the potential to be the most harmful of all. We are a world away from yarns about some official getting a few grand in lieu of holidays or an executive going wild on the company credit card. What Marie Crowe and Mark Tighe have uncovered are stories of broken lives, women who came into the FAI’s orbit to play football, who were not protected when they were there and who left it damaged for life.
“When we met with the group of women, it was very clear we’ve a long road to travel in terms of creating trust with them,” said Rafferty. “I believe in meeting them a number of times, we’ve built up that trust to a certain extent. We want to continue to engage with them. That trust is for all those involved in football, that they trust us that we will do the right thing.”
All fine words. But, as ever, nailing the FAI down on what exactly the right thing looks like proved a frustrating experience. As soon as they were asked about possible compensation for the women involved, both Courell and Rafferty immediately hid behind the ongoing Garda investigation.
They wouldn’t even confirm or deny whether the FAI is indemnified against potential claims, twice refusing to answer the question at all. Courell eventually said that they would have to deal with that on a case-by-case basis with their insurers. Answering only at the point of a bayonet has never been a good look for the FAI and all the sunshine in the world won’t make up for it if this becomes a sticking point at any stage down the line.
So what happens next? Both Courell and Rafferty made a point of referencing the Raise A Concern helpline that has been set up and repeatedly asked for anyone who experienced anything or witnessed anything to come forward. It is independent of the FAI and has had six contacts since it was set up. No serious issues have been reported. Yet.
But in reality, it feels unlikely that this is the end of the revelations. It stretches all credulity to imagine that the issues raised in print and on TV over the weekend only ever happened on one FÁS course and one soccer team away back in the 1990s. Moreover, the FAI can’t be the only sporting body bracing itself for what might be coming down the tracks.
When the press conference was over and the lecterns were being carted off and loaded into the back of a van, an FAI employee gathered up the blue Play It Right placards. There seemed no good place to put them so they were left propped up against a desk, just inside the entrance. Play it right, then throw it in the corner and forget about it until next time. Even for the FAI, it felt a little on the nose.
Hopefully, what RTÉ Investigates and the Sunday Independent have brought to light here will embolden others to come forward. Far from being the end of the story, it might only be the beginning. If so, the FAI could feasibly be dealing with allegations like these for a long time to come.
They better be ready.
