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'A fraction of what the old gang were at' | Niall Quinn to defer FAI salary


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The FAI's new interim deputy CEO, Niall Quinn, insists that he will defer his wages in his new role with Irish football's governing body.

Quinn, who had previously ruled himself out of the running for the CEO role, has been announced as deputy to the new interim chief executive Gary Owens.

The association is in debt to the tune of €62 million but Quinn told Virgin Media that he is willing to wait for his pay.

"Gary and I got put back in our box a bit and told we had to be held accountable," said Quinn.

"For a fraction of what the old gang, and I mean a fraction of what the old gang were at, it's there.

"I deferred mine, let's see how the redundancies work out and let's see where the association gets to before I take mine."

Quinn has been charged with leading a future League of Ireland strategy and the overall development of the game in Ireland.

While the former Republic of Ireland striker admits he is not privy to the finer details of the association's finances at present, he is confident that a deal is imminent.

"I've stepped over the line because I believe it will be good and it will be good enough," added Quinn.

"That's not that I know any of the figures involved, I don't know where it will end up when it is finally announced, I hope it is announced very soon.

"But I'm led to believe that there is an assistance in place from the three stakeholders; the banks, UEFA and the Government that will allow the game to move forward."

Quinn intends to meet his new FAI colleagues next week.

"It's a difficult time for staff, I know," said Quinn.

"I'll hopefully be meeting up with everybody on Monday and trying to instill a bit more confidence in the system, that it's not as bleak as some of the pictures that were painted and that there is a growth pattern there, envisaged for us to all be a part of.

"Right now it's still in that stage of, not sure where we're going but I would ask that they understand that a lot is being done to ease the pain."


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