THE FAI and Vera Pauw have apologised for some players singing a pro-IRA chant as they celebrated Ireland’s World Cup qualification.
The Girls in Green secured a spot at next year’s World Cup finals with a 1-0 win over Scotland in Hampden Park last night.
But footage quickly emerged of some players singing “Ooh Ahh, Up the RA” after a squad member went on Instagram live from the dressing room.
Now, Pauw and the Association have quickly moved to apologise for the inappropriate song.
In a statement, FAI chiefs said: “The Football Association of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland Ireland Women’s National Team Manager Vera Pauw apologise for any offence caused by a song sung by players in the Ireland dressing room after the FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Play-off win over Scotland at Hampden Park on Tuesday night.”
And Ireland manager Vera Pauw said: “We apologise from the bottom of our hearts to anyone who has been offended by the content of the post-match celebrations after we had just qualified for the World Cup.
“We will review this with the players and remind them of their responsibilities in this regard. I have spoken with players this morning and we are sorry collectively for any hurt caused, there can be no excuse for that.”
Speaking at a press conference back in Dublin, Pauw added: “We are sincerely, deeply sorry for what happened. It doesn’t matter if the players meant anything or not – it’s about having respect for everybody, for the history.
“That (respect) is the first thing in our line, the first sentence, in my team everybody has respect because there is always respect to everybody around us.
“So we are more disappointed in ourselves that we have overstepped that rule than anything else and we are so sorry that we have hurt people.”
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She added: “It was unnecessary. I have spoken already with several players about it and the one who posted it is devastated, she is crying in her room.
“She is so, so sorry. I said to her that it is wrong but not only wrong from her, it’s wrong that that song has been sung with the meaning that it has.
“There is no excuse for it. If I would have been there, to be honest, I would not have recognised it [the song’s significance] because I am a foreigner, I don’t know the song, I don’t know what it means.
“I asked, ‘Did you know what you were singing?’ And they said, ‘Of course we know it but we didn’t feel it. It was not meant to hurt anyone’.
“But that is no excuse. So if you know it, that means that if you have respect for people and if you know what happened and you know the history and you know the background, because everybody knows that, then it shouldn’t have happened.”
Chloe Mustaki also apologised for the “lapse of judgement”, saying: “We’re all extremely sorry for the hurt it has caused, a lapse of judgement in the moment. We are extremely sorry and hopefully we can move past it.”
Pauw broke down last night as she paid tribute to her players’ tenacity.
Speaking after the game, she said: “This is unbelievable. How can this happen?! Amber’s first touch has decided the game… Courtney’s save was not luck.
“We knew where it was going in the end, it wasn’t beautiful – we have work to do But we did it.
“A group of players giving themselves to the team, and doing it for the team and the country.
“I have no words, I’m sorry. I can’t believe it.
“It’s not that we were the better team on the pitch, but we were the most effective team, and we just wanted it more.”
EMOTIONAL SCENES
Fans had last night been left in tears when goal-scorer Amber Barrett paid poignant tribute to the ten who lost their lives in last week’s horrific Creeslough tragedy.
James O’Flaherty, 48, Catherine O’Donnell, 39, and her 13-year-old son James Monaghan, Jessica Gallagher, 24, Martin McGill, 49, Hugh Kelly, 59, Martina Martin, 49, Robert Garwe, 50, and his five-year-old daughter Shauna Flanagan Garwe, and 14-year-old Leona Harper all lost their lives in the blast.
The Milford native, whose grandparents were from Creeslough, paused and touched her black armband – which all players wore in the wake of the horrific blast – after scoring the winning goal.
Speaking afterwards, while wrapped in a Donegal flag, Amber said: “I know Creeslough like the back of my hand. Both my grandparents were Creeslough born and bred.
“I spent my whole upbringing there in summers and Christmas. Every year I go back, I go to my uncle who is still living in Creeslough.
“I know people that died in the tragedy, I know people who were affected by the tragedy, I know people who were first on the scene of the tragedy.
“I’ve not been able to put into words about it. There’s been a sombreness about me the last few days.
“This is the best day of my life in terms of what we’ve done for football.
“But when you put it into perspective, we don’t scratch the surface of what happened over there on Friday.
“This result, this game, that goal, this award I’m dedicating it to those ten beautiful souls who unfortunately perished on Friday.
“For all their families, because I know they touched their lives, they certainly touched ours. This is for Creeslough. This is for Donegal.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
