“Considering the governance challenges that the FAI has had to overcome in recent years, the Association feels a particular obligation to advocate for and uphold best practice.

“We are of course aware of the recent developments and wider concerns within the football community. We are considering these matters carefully and will continue to engage through the appropriate governance structures and channels. At this stage, we have no further comment.

“We support the current Uefa position on the matter and will continue to engage constructively on issues relating to football governance.

“Following an FAI board meeting, the decision was taken to rescind the letter of support that the Association supplied earlier this year

“We take our responsibilities as a member association of both Uefa and Fifa seriously

“It has since written to Fifa to explain its reasoning.

“It's just part of the focus that comes with football. When we're dealing with supposedly objective analysis of matches, whether that be an expert ex-player in a studio or an ex-referee, that should be balanced and fair. If it's all one-sided criticism, that creates a culture of fear, disrespect, shame. There's a thirst for people to be told: 'Is the decision right or wrong?' And the reality in football is there's a lot of subjectivity and opinion in the middle of right and wrong. But that's not acceptable a lot of the time now.

“One of the challenges that referees face at every level is actually understanding the challenges that we face. Fear of making mistakes, external opinion, spectators, managers, parents, media, colleagues. All these things feed into creating self-doubt, lacking confidence, and then things can spiral out of control and you lose the ability to actually have any confidence in what you're doing on the field.