STEWART REGAN last night delivered a thinly-veiled attack on his Republic of Ireland counterpart, John Delaney, over his acceptance of 5m euros of FIFA hush money and his insulting behaviour around the Euro 2016 qualifying clash with Scotland in November.
Regan, chief executive of the Scottish Football Association, was upset by Delaney and fellow FAI officials snubbing an official pre-match function prior to Scotland's 1-0 victory at Celtic Park following a row over arrangements for away supporters.
Delaney accused the SFA of being "unprofessional" in granting his association just 3200 tickets and insisted there would be "tension in the air" on the night with rival supporters mingling together inside the stadium.
He was forced to apologise for singing a pro-IRA song in a Dublin bar just weeks later and is now expected to be called in front of a government committee in Ireland to explain his astonishing admission last week that he accepted a 5m euro payment from the outgoing FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, over the circumstances surrounding his nation's failure to make it to the 2010 World Cup finals.
The Republic lost a two-legged play-off to France with a blatant handball from Thierry Henry being missed by the officials in the lead-up to the goal which decided the tie in Paris. Delaney went on radio to claim that he took a payment with Blatter to prevent the matter being taken to court.
"It has been a challenging week for the FAI in lots of different ways," said Regan ahead of Saturday's return match between Scotland and their Group D rivals, for which, the Tartan Army have been restricted to approximately 3500 places.
"I've always worked under the assumption that, if you haven't got anything positive to say, 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.
"The one thing I will say is that words such as 'tension' and 'security' were used last November and it was proven that Scotland fans, as we all knew they would, just got on with the game and intermingled with fans from Ireland and had a great night.
"There was lots of scaremongering last November.
"There were no issues and we fully expect the same to happen again in Dublin. As much as we only have five per cent of the ticket allocation, we expect around 10,000 Scotland fans to be travelling to Dublin.
"We expect them to get access somehow into the ground and I'm sure they'll have a great night."
Regan has insisted that Scotland would never have become involved in a situation which saw a multi-million pound sum of money change hands over a refereeing decision and has pointed out that the SFA have been quick to flag up irregularities in the past.
He was speaking in the wake of the national association's AGM, which saw Alan McRae formally appointed as the new president in place of Campbell Ogilvie.
"We would not be interested in having any debate over whether or not there is compensation due on the back of a refereeing error," said Regan. "I think it's a ludicrous statement, quite frankly.
"If every team who had a concern over a decision tried to make a claim on the back of it, there would be a queue down the steps from Hampden to Aikenhead Road.
"Scotland do things professionally and we do things the right way. You probably read last weekend the whole John McBeth (former SFA president) debate from back in 2007.
"We were asked to make a payment of £75,000 into Jack Warner's account for his personal use following the Scotland v Trinidad and Tobago match and he was sent packing with a flea in his ear and warned that the police would be involved if he didn't move on."
Regan has confirmed that Delaney and the FAI delegation failed to turn up at the customary pre-match reception last November and was clear when asked whether he found that insulting.
"Yes," he replied. He also stated that the SFA will not indulge in any tit-for-tat behaviour later this week and will attend all events scheduled for their delegation.
Regan, however, refused to react to Delaney's statement from last November on the lack of professionalism at the SFA and the accusation that no national association has ever treated the FAI as badly as those inside Hampden Park.
"What do you think of that in light of events of the last week?" remarked Regan. "Those people who have listened to those comments will form their own opinions on what John Delaney has said."
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