SENIOR OFFICIALS REPRESENTING the Football Association of Ireland will appear before a joint Oireachtas Committee on Wednesday following an 11th-hour U-turn. Last Friday, the FAI informed the Committee “with great frustration” that it would be unable to attend the requested hearing to answer questions on the Association’s safeguarding procedures. However, the FAI have now written to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport to inform them that a five-person delegation will appear tomorrow. An investigation by An Garda Siochana is ongoing, with the FAI initially withdrawing on the grounds that their appearance could “risk prejudicing ongoing Garda investigations and the rights of third parties”. “It seems to question the intentions of the committee which is unacceptable and indeed unprecedented.”– With reporting by Gavin Cooney