In a strongly worded statement, the management committee of the Professional Football Association of Ireland (PFAI) have outlined their criticism at how the FAI delegation approached Wednesday's hearing before an Oireachtas committee.

This latest development comes after David Moran, chair of the Leinster Senior League (LSL), confirmed to RTÉ Sport that an email had been send to each of their 138 member-clubs asking them whether they think the FAI board should resign.

Former CEO John Delaney and the FAI board are currently under scrutiny following their appearance at Leinster House to explain a €100,000 loan Delaney gave to the association before his sideways move to the role of FAI Executive Vice President.

Representatives from the PFAI are now keen to talk individual board members of the association following the admission that only three members of the board knew about the loan that was given by Delaney in 2017.

Also, the PFAI feel that the League of Ireland has been the "poor relation" for many years now and that priority has been given to all other areas of football.

In a statement released on Thursday evening, the PFAI said: "We have watched the events of the last few weeks with dismay culminating with the appearance by FAI representatives at the Oireachtas yesterday.

"For us as players and for our representatives this is the standard response that we have become accustomed to over the last few years.

"Whilst the behaviour and attitude of yesterday's delegation did not shock us, we were however very interested to hear the admission from the Board members that were in attendance yesterday, that they were not always made aware of relevant information that require their attention and approval.

"Following this revelation from the FAI, we will now be seeking confirmation from each member of the Board individually to validate if they did indeed approve and have full knowledge of the highly publicised issues the PFA Ireland have faced with the FAI to date.

"For years, League of Ireland football has been the poor relation, lagging behind grass roots and the men's international team in terms of importance.

"The 14-year reign of John Delaney has seen priority given to all other areas. It is clear that the finances of the FAI need to be forensically examined and the governance of the association completely overhauled.

Deputy Ruth Coppinger said yesterday that the hearing was 'like Hamlet without the Prince'. To continue the analogy, something is rotten in the state of the FAI."

PFAI Ireland Chairman Gary Rogers added: "Yesterday's performance by the FAI was a new low point for Irish football. In a country where soccer remains the most popular sport, the lack of priority given to our own league is embarrassing.

"The FAI has no interest in the views or fates of the players, this is borne out by the fact that there has never been any player representation on any FAI committee or board.

"Also, last year during protracted difficulties at Bray Wanderers and Limerick, the FAI refused to get into any meaningful dialogue with our representatives and even had the audacity to look for €150,000 to put into a fund to pay for our own wages.

"The prize money available for winning the League is disgraceful; it has halved since 2007 and is disproportionate to what clubs pay for affiliation fees. There needs to be root and branch reform within the FAI. We note from yesterday's Oireachtas meeting that the FAI appear to be willing to change the governance of the association going forward.

"We hope that their attitude towards change also includes the players in the League and the League in general. We have recently written to the FAI Board of Management seeking a meeting in relation to starting negotiations on a collective bargaining agreement for the players.

"We feel this is long overdue and necessary and will ultimately benefit the players in the league and we hope that the FAI will be willing and able to implement same.

"We need to start again, from now at year zero, and make professional football in this country and us, the players the centrepiece of the rebirth."