SCOTTISH FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION (SFA) chief executive Stewart Regan slammed the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) for accepting a €5million pay-off from Fifa in 2010.
Regan declared the SFA would never challenge the result of a match “on the back of a refereeing error” ahead of Scotland’s Euro 2016 qualifier against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.
The FAI revealed last week it accepted an interest-free loan from Fifa as compensation for not pursuing legal action after the Ireland were denied 2010 World Cup qualification by France, following Thierry Henry’s notorious handball incident in a 2009 play-off.
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The relationship between the SFA and FAI has been strained since the latter complained about the size of the ticket allocation for Irish fans when Scotland and the Republic of Ireland clashed in Glasgow in November.
“It has been a challenging week for the FAI in lots of different ways,” Regan said on Tuesday. “I’ve always worked under the assumption if you haven’t got anything positive to say then don’t say anything – keep your mouth shut.
“The FAI have chosen to speak on a number of different fronts, recently and last November, and we’ve just got on quietly and prepared for the match and we’ll continue to do that.”
Regan added: “Scotland do things professionally and we do things the right way.
“It has been recalled recently that the SFA were asked to pay £75,000 into the then Fifa vice-president Jack Warner’s account for his personal use following the Scotland-Trinidad and Tobago friendly in 2004 when John McBeth was our president.
“The person who asked for the payment was sent packing with a flea in his ear and warned that if he didn’t [leave], the police would be involved.
“As far as we are concerned, we play matches the right way and qualify – hopefully – in the right way. We would not be interested in having any debate over whether or not there was compensation due on the back of a refereeing error.”
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SCOTTISH FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION (SFA) chief executive Stewart Regan slammed the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) for accepting a €5million pay-off from Fifa in 2010.
Regan declared the SFA would never challenge the result of a match “on the back of a refereeing error” ahead of Scotland’s Euro 2016 qualifier against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.
The FAI revealed last week it accepted an interest-free loan from Fifa as compensation for not pursuing legal action after the Ireland were denied 2010 World Cup qualification by France, following Thierry Henry’s notorious handball incident in a 2009 play-off.
The relationship between the SFA and FAI has been strained since the latter complained about the size of the ticket allocation for Irish fans when Scotland and the Republic of Ireland clashed in Glasgow in November.
“It has been a challenging week for the FAI in lots of different ways,” Regan said on Tuesday. “I’ve always worked under the assumption if you haven’t got anything positive to say then don’t say anything – keep your mouth shut.
Regan added: “Scotland do things professionally and we do things the right way.
“It has been recalled recently that the SFA were asked to pay £75,000 into the then Fifa vice-president Jack Warner’s account for his personal use following the Scotland-Trinidad and Tobago friendly in 2004 when John McBeth was our president.
“The person who asked for the payment was sent packing with a flea in his ear and warned that if he didn’t [leave], the police would be involved.
“As far as we are concerned, we play matches the right way and qualify – hopefully – in the right way. We would not be interested in having any debate over whether or not there was compensation due on the back of a refereeing error.”
– First published at 07.45
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