Stephen Kenny keeps his job as Republic of Ireland boss after controversial ‘political’ video used to motivate his players before international friendly against England sparked an investigation
- The video reportedly made reference to the Great Famine and the Easter Rising
- Several players took offence to the montage shown before the friendly match
- Damien Duff and Keith Andrews were spoken to as part of the investigation
Republic of Ireland boss Stephen Kenny has kept his job following an investigation into the controversial ‘political’ video he showed players ahead of the recent defeat to England.
But the FAI have stopped short of publicly supporting their embattled boss following an internal probe into ‘videogate’.
Sportsmail exclusively revealed the news that Kenny was under investigation by his own employers after he showed a in-house motivational video that included Anglo-Irish political connotations in the lead-up to their 3-0 loss to Gareth Southgate’s men earlier this month.
Stephen Kenny won’t lose his job despite the motivational video he showed raising eyebrows
In a statement released on Sunday night the FAI declared that the ‘matter is now closed’ – but stopped short of publicly stating that they were satisfied with Kenny’s conduct in the matter.
The statement read: ‘Earlier this week issues regarding content shared with the senior Ireland men’s team ahead of the recent friendly against England at Wembley Stadium were brought to the attention of the FAI.
‘Following this development, the FAI decided it was appropriate to look into the matter.
‘Since then the FAI has had discussions with a number of staff members and players, including the team manager, Stephen Kenny.
‘The Board has accepted the explanations provided and considers that the matter is now closed.’
But Sportsmail understands that FAI chiefs made clear to Kenny that his decision to show the video was an error of judgement, one substantial enough for them to investigate.
Harry Maguire opened the scoring for England as they defeated the visitors 3-0 at Wembley
Those views were expressed to Kenny during discussions on Friday, but he has survived the probe with his job intact.
It is understood the FAI were made aware of the video, which is said to have made reference to the Great Famine, the Easter Rising in 1916 and Proclamation of Independence, as well showing previous goals scored by the Republic of Ireland against England, by a member of staff on Wednesday prompting their probe.
It has since emerged that at least one FAI member of staff advised Kenny not to show the video, pleas the boss ignored.
The Football Association of Ireland spoke to Damien Duff (left) about the content in the video
Players took varying degrees of offence to the video, with one source describing it as ‘anti-English’ while another indicated it was more aligned with ‘pro-Ireland’ sentiments.
The 49-year-old was called into a urgent meeting with FAI bosses on Friday to establish the full details of what happened ahead of last Thursday’s 3-0 loss at Wembley, whilst coaches Damien Duff and Keith Andrews were also spoken to.