SCOTTISH FA chief executive Stewart Regan has criticised the FAI for accepting a €5million payment from FIFA.
There has been significant tension between the SFA and FAI due to ticketing issues ahead of last November’s European Championships qualifier at Celtic Park. The FAI were aggrieved by the ticket allocation they were given for that clash 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 insists that 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.
“It’s a ludicrous statement, quite frankly.”
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