FAI CEO Jonathan Hill says he has apologised to Robbie Keane for how the confusion around his position was handled by the Association.

Keane remains on the FAI payroll even though he has no defined role within the organisation. He was given a four-year deal when he came in as part of Mick McCarthy’s ticket, but Stephen Kenny was also told he had the freedom to bring his own staff in with him and opted against including Keane.

Ireland’s record scorer wasn’t happy with the overall FAI communication on the matter when the succession plan was brought forward by the pandemic, and was surprised by radio comments by former interim CEO Gary Owens which suggested he was in loop with discussions ongoing.

When Hill arrived into the FAI, the impasse surrounding the €250,000-a-year employee was high on the to-do list.

“I think it is fair to say the situation around Robbie initially was not of his making,” says Hill.

“I personally don’t believe the association handled that situation particularly well. For that I was happy to apologise to Robbie in our conversations. We are hopeful to have a position to communicate to you in the next few weeks.

“In hindsight, people may have done things differently – it was a difficult period for everyone.

“We also had a good long chat in London around the Euros, where actually we saw Robbie interacting well with some key UEFA people and representing Ireland very well.

“One thing I can say about Robbie is he is absolutely committed to Irish football.”