FAI apologises to female former players who have spoken out

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has apologised to female former international players, and trainees on a FAS soccer training course, who experienced alleged unwanted or inappropriate sexual advances from FAI coaches in the 1990s.

"We are sorry for what you had to endure, we're sorry that anyone could have ever felt unsafe," Interim CEO David Courell told reporters at press conference at FAI headquarters this morning.

"We are sorry that the modern practises and reporting structures that we now have in place were not there for you when you needed them. And we're sorry that anyone could have ever felt unsafe in Irish football."

He said he was speaking to directly address issues and individuals featured in a major joint investigation from RTÉ Investigates and the Sunday Independent yesterday.

"I'm truly sorry that anyone involved in Irish football would ever feel unsafe..." FAI People & Culture Director Aoife Rafferty said.

Watch: RTÉ Investigates: Girls in Green on the RTÉ Player

In response to questions about the stories covered in the reporting, Mr Courell said "the reality is learnings like this, experiences like this bring greater emphasis on the need for safeguarding structures to be as strong as possible."

"We need to redouble our efforts and make sure that an awareness of existing safeguarding protocols are fully understood, fully respected, and that people feel and know that they have somewhere to go to if they have an issue," he added.

Asked about policies on relationships between players and coaches, Mr Courell said a 2013 employee handbook expressly prohibits "amorous" relationships between an FAI staff coach and player or a student.

However, he confirmed that the policies do not extend to clubs.

"We have been