OPINION: The FAI kept us out of the Euros

THE great continental festival of association football, Euro 2024, has enamoured millions of us over the past few weeks and is now grinding towards a conclusion. Teams have arrived in Germany full of hope and expectation, while swarms of supporters have descended on the various host cities in a haze of colour, noise and fun. 
In general, the tournament seems to be a great success with some unexpected results sprinkled across the various groups while fans from countries such as Scotland, Slovenia, Georgia and Turkey have brought their own unique brand of support to the event.
Footage of lines of bag-pipers marching together to Scotland’s matches were enthralling to see while other countries also had their own way of expressing their culture and nationality. 
Sadly, in the midst of all the colour and excitement there was no tinge of green. There was no footage of shamrock-clad hordes marching towards stadiums and no reports of Irish celebrations in city squares in the run-up to group games where Adam Idah or Seamus Coleman would carry our hopes and dreams. In short, despite the tournament having the most amount of teams since its inception, there was no spot for Ireland.
Before, we rise our should blades and stick out our chest we should calm ourselves and understand that Ireland’s non-appearance at this summer’s football festival is completely justified. Ireland did not deserve to qualify, came nowhere near qualifying and were never in with a chance of qualifying.
Why is that? Far be it from me to pretend I have the answers, but even I can see the ineptitude that exists around the organisation and development of the sport in our nation. Even I can see the lack of foresight, lack of initiative and lack of investment which has led to Ireland being overtaken by nations which once wouldn’t hold a candle to a team of men in green.
There are many statistics which can be trotted out in this regard and comparing the FAI’s performance to that of other nation’s associations makes very poor reading. The statistics around facilities, numbers of coaches and investment is woeful while the decision-making by the FAI board defies belief.
The venues, which cannot really be described as stadiums, that are home to our top-level clubs aren’t fit for sporting habitation in the most part. Even the most basic things such as toilet facilities are decades behind the times at many League of Ireland grounds, so it’s hard to speak about competing with other nations if such basic levels of decency cannot be met.
The development of top young players is haphazard at best. There is little effective joined-up-thinking and academy structures are poor at best. Prior to Brexit most talented teenagers would be Hoovered up by British clubs when they were 15 or 16, but that avenue has been cut off and exposed Ireland’s antiquated and under-resourced development structures.
Tied into this is the disgraceful lack of coaches in Irish football. Comparisons with other nations reveal disgraceful statistics.
Take Croatia for example. The population of that nation is smaller than ours yet their numbers of full-time academy staff are healthy, while ours are in Intensive Care. In truth, out-dated stadia and the lack of funding for infrastructure is an issue both countries share, but coaching is a huge element Croatia appears to have sorted.
There are 190 full-time academy staff employed in Croatian football, while disgracefully, Ireland has just 10. The same comparison can be made with many nations across the continent. When population is taken into consideration the comparison with Portugal makes equally sobering reading and the results on the pitch mirror these situations. Croatia and Portugal compete with the best teams on the planet while we don’t really compete with anyone any more.
The tired old comments that Irish soccer cannot compete because of our strength in GAA, rugby and other sports doesn’t hold water. All other countries invest in numerous sports, yet soccer thrives. Take Croatia again as an example. Athletes from that beautiful country are very competitive at a number of international sports such as basketball, handball, water polo and tennis. This is very impressive for a country of its size and resources. 
The FAI is so far off the mark it defies logic – and don’t even mention the utterly disgraceful situation they have created around the appointment of a manager for our country’s senior men’s team. Is it any wonder we’re sitting on the couch while the rest of the continent celebrate sport in Germany.