Irish name Dokter as high performance director

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has confirmed the appointment of Ruud Dokter as its new high performance director.

Dutchman Dokter, 57, has wide-ranging international experience, most recently with the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB), where he held a variety of senior coaching positions at Under-21, U18, U17, U16 and U15 levels as well as with the senior women's team.

Dokter will begin his FAI role on 1 August and is tasked with overseeing the non-senior international men's programme, the women's senior and underage international programme, coach education and player development. This will include the emerging talent programme as well as the academy at the FAI's headquarters in Abbotstown, where the first phase of the programme is currently being developed.

Dokter, who replaces previous incumbent Wim Koevermans, said: "I am really looking forward to taking up the role of high performance director with the FAI. I will be getting involved in Irish football at an exciting time for the game here, with the emergence of many promising young players and solid performances at underage international level. My first priority will be to cultivate relationships with those people who invest so much time in nurturing young Irish talent, to provide a good sense of direction and to influence everyone to work together."

Welcoming the announcement, John Delaney, FAI chief executive, added: "Ruud will be working closely with all of the affiliates involved in Irish football, with an emphasis on coaching and the development of our elite player pathway."