The disgraced John Delaney

Questions in relation to the €100,000 payment were first made to the FAI on March 1. In his ruling last night, Barr noted that it was significant that Delaney had 15 days to respond to queries from the newspaper and had instead launched a last-minute application to the court.

The Sunday Times has also seen a copy of an FAI “remittance advice” document made out to Delaney dated June 16, 2017. The remittance of €100,000 is said to have been paid based upon an invoice.

In the High Court last night, Delaney attempted to get an injunction based on the claim that documents seen by The Sunday Times could have emerged only from in camera family law proceedings involving his ex-wife.

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The judge ruled that the rights of the in camera rule had to be balanced with the right of the media to report on matters of public interest. He added: “I am satisfied that the finances of the FAI and any payment and repayment to its chief executive are matters of significant public interest.”

Delaney is paid €360,000 a year as chief executive of the FAI and last year he got an extra €160,000 from Uefa, the European football governing authority, according to financial statements published last month.

He was elected to the Uefa executive committee in April 2017 and chairs its youth and amateur football committees. Delaney is also deputy chairman of Uefa’s women’s football committee. He has been on the FAI’s board for 17 years.

Delaney is likely to face questions about his salary when he appears before the Oireachtas committee on transport, tourism and sport on April 10.

The FAI’s last filed annual accounts are for the year ending December 31, 2017. Audited by Deloitte Ireland, they report related party transactions of €430,000 in “total remuneration for key management personnel” — the same figure as in 2016.

Delaney has previously defended his salary. “It is a 24/7 job, weekends as well,” he said. The prize for the club that wins the League of Ireland is €110,000.

Catherine Murphy, a TD and member of the transport, tourism and sport committee, has said she wants to question Delaney about governance, given the “huge” amount of public cash that the FAI gets every year.

The association has had almost €50m in state funding over the past decade. It gets an annual €2.7m grant from Sport Ireland. The FAI’s most recent accounts show its grants and “subvention funding” came to €6.14m out of a total income of €49m, mostly made up of ticket sales and sponsorship.