Eircom League authorities have extended until tomorrow the deadline by which St Patrick's Athletic must respond to the allegation that their top scorer, Charles Mbabzi Livingstone, played the first five matches of this season while unregistered.
The Inchicore club was originally to give its official explanation by this morning but, after a request from it’s solicitor, has been granted extra time in order to gather ancillary information.
"Early this morning I was told by St Patrick's Athletic that the club had asked its solicitor, Maurice Lyons & Co, to deal with my urgent request to the club for information regarding the registration of a player," said League Commissioner Roy Dooney.
"In mid morning I spoke to Mr Lyons who told me that he would have the information later today. Late this afternoon Mr Lyons rang me seeking certain information from the League relating to player registrations which he says he needs to complete his response on behalf of St Patrick's Athletic to the League's request.
"Some of this information is two or three seasons old and has been archived and will not be possible for me to retrieve until tomorrow morning before sending to Mr Lyons. Accordingly, I do not expect to receive a full reply from Mr Lyons until tomorrow (Friday) morning."
St Pat's warned yesterday that their reply is likely to open "a can of worms".