Even The Irish Were Bribed ...

[sunny-dave]

"The Football Association of Ireland said Fifa had paid it 5m euros to stop legal action over Thierry Henry's handball in Ireland's World Cup play-off defeat by France in 2009"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-33013805

I always did think they rolled over a bit easily - now we know why :((

[sunny-dave]

A legitimate agreement - yeah, right

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33011692

[joggerjayne]

That disgraceful.

They should've held out for at least double that.

[sunny-dave]

And a keg of Guinness ...

... each

[barney15c]

Might have had a bit more respect for the FAI had they been transparent about it, not a dicky bird until the Blatter fallout.

[joggerjayne]

"The "loan" of £3.6m was for the construction of a new stadium in Ireland".

What were they planning to build with £3.6m?

Our new stadium in Brighton cost £93.0m

http://www.footballgroundguide.com/leagues/england/championship/amex-stadium-brighton-and-hove-albion-fc.html#awhat-is-the-amex-stadium-like

[barney15c]

It's a sport, mistakes are going to happen. Shouldn't the FA sue FIFA for the Maradona handball, the Lampard non-goal, etc, etc.

[Ellipsis]

Something like this ...

http://www.subbuteo365.com/images/gallery/subbuteoscene1.jpg

[ichkeria]

I'm not sure who is more to blame here: FIFA or the FAI. What, seriously, were the chances of any sort of 'legal challenge' standing up in court?
The truth is the FAI made complete prunes of themselves over this admittedly horrendous refereeing error. And we had marches, petitions, God knows what.
Culminating the ultimate humiliation when they actually asked to be allowed into the draw for the finals as a 33rd entrant and were rightly laughed out of court publicly by Mr Blatter. One of those rare occasions when his Blatterness was actually on the side of common sense and we could all laugh with him
I'd love to know what happened to the money .

[ichkeria]

It seems as though the FAI only threatened FIFA with legal action AFTER Blatter laughed at them.
So Delaney told Blatter 'you laughed at us I'm going to sue you' and Blatter said 'have 3 million pounds to build a stadium instead and pay it back if you don't qualify for the next World Cup
Delaney said thanks - pocketed the cash. Next thing Rep of Ireland predictably don't qualify.
Blatter asks for the money back.
Delaney says 'but we're broke'
Blatter replies: fair enough keep it
Investigation time I think ...

[ichkeria]

FAI please Svejk, not IFA. And no sarcastic comments about the Judaean People's Front and the People's Front of Judaea please :-)

"I always did think they rolled over a bit easily - now we know why :(( "

Roll over a bit easy? Are you joking? There was a hell of a fuss.
Might as well re-post what I posted in the Sport section on this
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm not sure who is more to blame here: FIFA or the FAI. What, seriously, were the chances of any sort of 'legal challenge' standing up in court?
The truth is the FAI made complete prunes of themselves over this admittedly horrendous refereeing error. And we had marches, petitions, God knows what.
Culminating the ultimate humiliation when they actually asked to be allowed into the draw for the finals as a 33rd entrant and were rightly laughed out of court publicly by Mr Blatter. One of those rare occasions when his Blatterness was actually on the side of common sense and we could all laugh with him
I'd love to know what happened to the money .
It seems as though the FAI only threatened FIFA with legal action AFTER Blatter laughed at them.
So Delaney told Blatter 'you laughed at us I'm going to sue you' and Blatter said 'have 3 million pounds to build a stadium instead and pay it back if you don't qualify for the next World Cup
Delaney said thanks - pocketed the cash. Next thing Rep of Ireland predictably don't qualify.
Blatter asks for the money back.
Delaney says 'but we're broke'
Blatter replies: fair enough keep it
Investigation time I think ...

[ichkeria]

Sorry the above should have gone here
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/News/Question1424446.html#answer-9776966