Former Republic of Ireland player and assistant manager Liam Brady has said neither the staff nor the players knew about the €5m payment which FIFA gave the FAI. 

Brady, who was assistant manager to Giovanni Trapattoni at the time of Ireland's World Cup play-off defeat to France, called it "mind-boggling".

The RTÉ analyst said: "It’s kind of mind-boggling isn’t it. I knew they were under pressure to kind of compensate us somehow after the incident in November 2009, but I didn’t realise that the FAI got as much money as they did.

"Certainly none of the staff knew about it and none of the players knew about it at the time.

"I think FIFA are saying it is a loan to do with the Aviva Stadium from what I can gather. John Delaney is telling a different story. I’m sure this story is going to going to go on and on for a little bit longer."

Fran Rooney, former chief executive of the association, has said the revelation of a payment from FIFA puts the FAI in a bad light and has called for full details of the transaction.

Current FAI chief executive John Delaney revealed yesterday that the payment was made, initially as a loan, to dissuade the association from taking a legal case after Thierry Henry's handball led to Ireland's elimination from the play-offs for World Cup 2010.

Ireland and France were level at 1-1 on aggregate in Paris in November 2009 when Henry controversially set up William Gallas for the winning goal in extra-time.

"It didn't stop us going to the World Cup. It stopped us from getting a penalty shootout" - Fran Rooney

Rooney said it was almost "nonsensical to think that we had a case to take legal action. All decisions in football are final, and it didn't stop us going to the World Cup. It stopped us from getting a penalty shootout."

Rooney said that he didn't know where FIFA was coming from agreeing to a settlement and added that the big issue for FIFA, particlarly after last week's events, is transparency in all aspects of the game.

"Confidential payments are at odds with transparency," he told RTÉ. 

"This [payment] should have been disclosed at the time. It should have been disclosed by FIFA and the FAI."

Rooney called on the FAI to publish the legal agreement and let the public see what is in it. 

He said that in the international arena, the payment will be seen as a very bad reflection on FIFA and the FAI and that it calls for a probe into the whole arrangement. 

"In some ways it was a good deal, but it's not about the deal, it is about how it is presented and disclosed to the public and the international arena.

"[The payment] doesnt seem to have been reflected in FAI accounts for a number of years. It is not clear where that money was showing in the accounts and I am calling on the FAI to show where that money is clearly in the accounts."