June 21 – It cost the Irish Football Association (IFA) £516,000 ($760,000) to get rid of chief executive Howard Wells (pictured), newly published accounts reveal.
Wells was given a six-figure pay out, believed to be £400,000 ($589,000), in an out-of-court settlement after he was sacked from his £100,000 ($147,000) a year post in October 2008 after nearly four years with the Northern Ireland governing body.
The rest of the money was eaten up by legal fees and other related expenses.
The Englishman, a former goalkeeper with Wycombe Wanderers and chief executive of UK Sport, had claimed “victimisation on the grounds of racism”.
Wells named two individuals in his complaint, one of them IFA President Raymond Kennedy.
Kennedy, surprisingly, was not quizzed on the Wells affair at the IFA’s annual meeting today where he was able to report that international matches at Windsor Park raised £4,042,342 ($ 5,950,098), enabling the IFA to report an annual turnover of £10,463,234 ($15,398,706) in the accounts.
That amounted to £1,378, 207 ($2,028,302) more that the previous 12 months and produced a profit of £456,915 ($672,428) compared to a previous plus of only £61,294 ($90,204).
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December 2009: Ireland payout to Wells being investigated
November 2009: Irish FA President forced to defend Wells payout
November 2009: Irish Football Association agree to six-figure payout to Wells