RED-faced FAI officials withdrew their online sale of match programmes following ridicule – which saw mags being flogged in sterling pounds with a fiver postage and packaging.
The cash-strapped association deleted a tweet promoting official souvenirs of this weekend’s Nations League showdown with England.
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The FAI’s official twitter account posted a link offering special edition copies of the new issue “due to demand”.
The statement read: “Match programme cover!
“Make sure you pick up our special edition match programme for the Ireland v England match, 64-page A4 edition with plenty of features and interviews from the famous fixture.
“It is now available to pre-order due to demand.”
But they were forced into an embarrassing climbdown a short time later, when fans pointed out that the price of an issue was priced at £8.50 with an additional £5 to have it sent here.
One supporter replied: “Shame it’s priced in sterling and costs extra to post to Ireland.”
A fellow fan chipped in: “It’s a disgrace, Joe.”
Another added: “I noticed this when I bought a programme in June and paid with Revolut. Why are we paying the English FA for an Ireland match programme?”
The post was deleted later in the evening without comment.
The FAI could not be reached for comment by the Irish Sun.
But there were calls for an investigation into how this occurred.
Sinn Fein TD Chris Andrews told us: “I think the FAI are trying to do things right but then there seems to be this culture that sets them back.
“And this does drag them back. Someone obviously didn’t join the dots. And that is very steep for a match programme.
“It’s strange. I think in fairness they are trying to do things right but something like this is very unfortunate. Hopefully someone in the FAI can look into it and fix this.”
He added: “I can see why some people might say ‘same old FAI’ but I don’t think we are back to those days.
“I think in general they are trying to do things in the right way now in general, but when something like this happens it feels like a setback.”
Consumer’s Association of Ireland chairperson Michael Kilcoyne said questions need to be asked and called for the FAI to “take a serious look at themselves.”
He told the Irish Sun: “My god, they seem to come up with some schemes to rip off the customers, don’t they?
“I think serious questions need to be asked and that they should look at what exactly happened here. You wouldn’t see the same happening over in England.
“£8.50 plus an extra fiver to have it sent over from the UK is very, very steep.
“I think a lot of associations and big businesses take advantage of the consumer because they know the demand is there, and people will buy these tickets.
“But it’s another case of the general public being exploited for big, big prices.”
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