Quick Facts
Biography
John Delaney (born 16 October 1967 in Waterford) is the current chief executive of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) and serves as second vice-president of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI), having been appointed in 2005.
Delaney's FAI salary is currently €430,000 a year. His salary is almost €100,000 more than the combined salaries of his Spanish and Italian counterparts. This is almost four times the €110,000 amount received by the League of Ireland winners.
FAI career
Delaney's father Joe was previously FAI treasurer.
Delaney became the youngest treasurer in FAI history in 2001. He rose to prominence in the wake of the 2002 Keane Saipan saga, having emerged as the FAI's public figurehead during the affair. He became acting chief executive of the organisation in December 2004, after Fran Rooney's acrimonious departure. Delaney became Acting Chief Executive of the FAI in December 2004, and took up the role full-time in March 2005. In November 2006, his contract was extended to 2012. In July 2010, the FAI's Board of Directors agreed to extend his contract once again, until 2015.
Delaney has overseen the appointments of Steve Staunton, Giovanni Trapattoni and Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane as assistant manager to Martin of Ireland's national football team.
Handball incident
When FIFA offered Ireland a Fair Play Award following 2009's France v Republic of Ireland play-off, Delaney respectfully declined and said FIFA President Sepp Blatter was "an embarrassment to himself and an embarrassment to FIFA".
On 4 June 2015, it was revealed by Delaney that FIFA had paid the FAI €5m (£3.6m) to stop legal action against them after their controversial World Cup play-off defeat in 2009.