LAST UPDATE | 9 Sep 2021

FAI CHIEF EXECUTIVE Jonathan Hill has given his take on Stephen Kenny’s comments  that he is using the 2022 World Cup qualification campaign to build a team to qualify for the 2024 European Championships in Germany, and stopped short of giving the manager his full backing. 

“With Serbia and Portugal in the group, and the spine being ripped out of the team, and we haven’t qualified for the World Cup since 2002: did anyone think that we were favourites to qualify or we should qualify?”, said Kenny on Monday.

“We certainly have a plan in place. I made the decision – right or wrong – that we would build this squad to be a really, really competitive team to qualify for [the European Championships in] Germany 2024.”

Kenny immediately followed those comments by clarifying, “we didn’t not try to win the games.”

Kenny’s current contract expires next July, and does not include that Euros campaign. 

The manager declined to confirm whether he had made these plans explicit with his bosses at the FAI, and speaking today at the announcement of Sky as the new primary, standalone sponsors of the international women’s team, FAI CEO Jonathan Hill gave his take on Kenny’s comments. 

“The context of what Stephen was saying is that it is very difficult to qualify for a Fifa World Cup”, said Hill. “Statistically it is almost twice as difficult for a Fifa World Cup with 13 teams [from Europe], as it is to qualify for a Euros with 24 teams. 

“It is not an easy process. We were the third seed in that group and clearly we were going to be playing two strong sides. And we have played two very strong sides. International football is very competitive.

“You heard me saying, with regards to the Sky announcement: does Stephen and his team, do the FAI team, the staff and board, do you guys as the media and the public expect or want us to win every single game that we play at every single level? Absolutely.

“But we know that football does not always deliver that and we have to be realistic in relation to that.

“That is my take on the context of Stephen’s comments.”

Vera Pauw at today's sponsorship announcement, flanked by Sky Ireland CEO JD Buckley. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO

Earlier, women’s manager Vera Pauw was asked by one journalist present whether she was planning to use the 2023 World Cup qualifying campaign as a “dry run” for the Euros in 2025, to which she said no.

Hill then interjected, saying, “it’s no different for Vera or any of our international teams, be it senior teams or underage teams, every game we play we want to win. In the same way I would hope everybody in this room, the media and the general public, want Irish teams to win when they play. That is a very simple sporting objective, and it hasn’t changed this week or last week, and won’t change as we move forward.” 

Kenny’s position has come under scrutiny in recent days, with Matt Doherty giving full backing to his manager and his staff. 

“We’ve always believed in what Stephen is trying to do,” Doherty told RTÉ Sport after Tuesday’s draw with Serbia. “We get coached brilliantly with Anthony Barry and Keith Andrews. All the back room staff, we’ve no complaints at all. The game plans they set us up with are really good.”

Asked whether Kenny still retained the full backing of the FAI, Hill was non-committal, though hinted that the manager would be given the full qualifying campaign before his position is reviewed in November, as was reported yesterday by The42. 

“Look, we have said very clearly what our normal approach is to every international window, and we review that window at the end of it at our board meeting, and we do that, hopefully, in a calm and collective way. We definitely do it in a collective way, if that makes sense, as a group, and we will continue to do it as a group. 

“We will review the whole World Cup qualification campaign in the same way in November at the same board meeting. We will discuss all the issues and we will have our reports that we will look at and we will review them accordingly. 

“One thing I will say about the board over the last 10 months that I have been involved is that there is a really open process there so everyone will be able to give their view. This isn’t about one person. It isn’t the view of one person, it is the view of 12 men and women. 

“Hopefully we will do that in a calm and considered manner.”

Sky were today unveiled as the first-ever standalone shirt sponsor of the women’s national team, with the men’s team still without a men’s sponsor since the deal with Three Mobile expired more than a year ago. It is a four-year deal, though representatives of both Sky and the FAI declined to state the value of the deal. 

Hill denied the decision to strike a separate deal for the women’s team reflected the difficulties the FAI are having in sourcing a sponsor for the men’s team.

He also declined to state how close or otherwise the FAI are to finding a primary sponsor for the men’s team.