Soccer-Irish FA's board to step down by July - minister

All members of the Football Association of Ireland's (FAI) board will step down by July, the governing body's chairman told the government in a letter on Tuesday, Irish Transport Minister Shane Ross said.

The FAI's corporate governance practices have come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks and its auditors said in a regulatory filing published on Tuesday that the association's accounts were not being properly kept.

"Given the ever growing lack of public confidence in the FAI, this move is to be welcomed and is hopefully the first step on the road to rebuilding trust in this important national governing body... It is clearly time for a regime change," Ross told a parliamentary committee. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin; editing by John Stonestreet)