Full coverage: John Delaney

The roots of Saipan were not to be found in the decades-long incompetence of the FAI or in the idea that it was a clash between the old Ireland and the new. The roots of Saipan, if there were any at all, could more conceivably be traced to a police cell in Manchester in 1999.

The FAI are embarked on a process of change but they continue to attract unwelcome headlines. Maybe that doesn't matter if they can get the fundamentals right.

The FAI's ace card is that it represents Irish football and no lender would dare seize the home of the national football team and it would be a brave politician that allowed it to happen.