Champagne Football - The Gospel According to John (Delaney)

In March 2019, Sunday Times Journalist Mark Tighe returned to his desk and found two documents waiting for him. One was a photocopy of a cheque made out to the FAI by its then Chief Executive John Delaney for €100,000. The other was a confirmation from the FAI that John Delaney had been repaid €100,000. What was this about, thought Mark. Why was an organisation which received €50 million in taxpayers' funding over the past decade in need of a loan from its Chief Executive? This was the catalyst for a series of events which culminated in Delaney leaving the FAI and the organisation requiring a state bailout of nearly €20 million. But mere hours before the Sunday Times was going to print with the story, Delaney went to the High Court seeking an injunction against the newspaper publishing it. Find out why in this episode of Legally Fond, when Gavin speaks to Tighe about this legal skirmish. The story is chronicled in Champagne Football, a book written by Mark which we would highly recommend, even for those who are not soccer fans.