The FAI have released a statement in relation to the incident at the Markets Field on November 4, 2022, where a stand had to be cleared during a Galway United v Waterford FC game owing to safety concerns in the away end stand.
The statement from the FAI says that "the incident did not occur due to malicious activity, nor a structural stand issue, but accidental excessive force contributed to the damage of the seats."
"I think it's farcical, what they've come up with there," said Blues fan, Ray Malone. Speaking to 'Déise Today with Damien Tiernan', he added: "I was the one whose leg went down through the floor the first time. What they're saying to me is that I must have used excessive force. I could have easily broken a leg going through that stand. They're telling me with that statement that I used excessive force walking up the steps which is absolute nonsense."
Ray had been in attendance at the Markets Field 10 days prior and when walking up the stand for the game with Treaty United his foot went through the stand. He took a photo of the damage at the time.
"If I'm falling through a hole in the stand, is that stand structurally safe? I don't think it is," he said.
Ray was not contacted by the FAI as part of the investigation. He told Déise Today on Thursday that he thought it "very strange if you [FAI] are doing a thorough investigation". Ray had previously highlighted the damage in an email to the FAI.
The FAI statement continued to say that the "Football Association of Ireland (FAI) and the League of Ireland are currently reviewing all stadium certificates for the 2023 season and will add additional inspections where high risks are identified. Following the conclusion of the 2022 season, a Safety and Security Conference took place with all relevant club personnel. Further match operations workshops and training is currently on-going ahead of the 2023 League of Ireland season."
Questions to be answered
Former Mayor of Waterford City and County Joe Kelly was also there on the night of the Treaty United game. He told WLR that serious questions need to be answered.
"The floor was moving up and down. Not substantially, but you could feel it. I said to my brother' This thing is moving,'" said Joe.
He says that when they were walking down the aisle at the end of the Treaty game the stewards advised him to walk down through the seats and come down the other side as there had been "a slight incident."
Joe wrote to the League of Ireland operations manager, Cliff Henry at the time, to detail what had happened and asked eight specific questions as regards the safety inspections in Limerick.
Those questions were:
- What is the maximum weight the stand is certified to safely cater for.
- When was the last certified safety inspection taken and what was the finding of the inspection.
- What engineering company or qualified safety engineer performed the inspection.
- Was the inspection / safety report provided to Treaty United. the Limerick Enterprise Development Partnership and the FAI.
- Was there remedial action taken following the structural problems from the Treaty United V Waterford FC match which were reported to the FAI.
- What did these repairs consist of in terms of strengthening the stand.
- Is the scaffolding type structure of the stand certified as safe, and can it safely withstand the weight of the patrons with the stand at full capacity.
- What is the safety margin allowed as calculated for the excess force or weight applied, by the effect of fans jumping in celebration as is common at football matches
Mr. Henry responded to Joe Kelly saying, "We appreciate your email and your points have been noted. We have begun our full investigation into the incident with all the various stakeholders."
WLR has requested the full report from the FAI - which has not been published - and a Freedom of Information request has also been submitted to the Department of Sport.
The full conversation with Ray, Joe and Damien can be heard below.
