FAI angry over delay

The FAI is to lodge a formal complaint with UEFA over the unsavoury incident which delayed the departure of the Republic of Ireland squad from Belgrade, in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The Department for Foreign Affairs has also been briefed on the dispute which detained the official party and some 80 supporters for more than an hour while Yugoslav immigration authorities demanded $5000 before they would clear the Aer Lingus plane for take off.

Earlier, the Yugoslavs had demanded and received a tax of $30 per person in addition to airport charges of 130 Yugoslav diners, approximately £9.

The first levy was, in effect, the money which the Yugoslavs said they were owed after refusing to honour the visas issued for the postponed fixture on October 10th, on the squad's arrival in Belgrade on Monday.

The FAI only learned of the departure tax on Wednesday and having been penalised once, were clearly not in the mood to make further concessions. It led to some sharp exchanges when they were again confronted by immigration officials on their arrival in the airport complex shortly before midnight.

While the aircraft, waiting to take the party to Dublin, idled on the tarmac and some 150 people found themselves detained in a relatively small room for an hour, the dispute over the rights and wrongs of the issue, raged on in an adjoining room.

"The reality was that we were being held to ransom for $5000 and we simply refused to pay," said the FAI's chief executive, Bernard O'Byrne. "They were adamant that we would not be allowed to leave until the money was handed over but in the end, we faced them down.

"It had been a long day, people were tired and just wanted to get home but still they refused to budge until eventually, out of the blue, they relented and said we could go.

"This kind of behaviour is simply unacceptable and we are now invoking the aid of UEFA to ensure that it will never happen again. None of it was the fault of the Yugoslav Football Federation who assured us today that they will be raising the matter with government officials in Belgrade."

It's not the first time the Yugoslavs have brushed with football authority. In 1992 they were expelled from the European Championship finals in Sweden, because of the political turmoil in the Balkans.

Now there is a possibility that they could be headed for a similar fate unless they provide cast iron guarantees that teams visiting the country, will be afforded the normal courtesies of international sport.

Mick McCarthy must wait at least three months before having an opportunity of exorcising the deep frustration of a 1-0 defeat which even the most rational, found difficult to accept in the aftermath of Wednesday's intense struggle in the Red Star stadium.

Officially, the team's next engagement is not until March 27th when Skopje will be revisited for a return of the controversial World Cup game there against Macedonia two years ago.

McCarthy believes that a break of more than four months is too long and negotiations are already under way for a warm up game at Lansdowne Road on February 10th.

As of now, there is no indication of the opposition but O'Byrne is hoping to announce a fixture within the next 10 days.

McCarthy was still refusing to apportion blame yesterday for the defensive error which consigned his team to an unlucky defeat against the highly ranked Yugoslavs.

He insists that he was unsighted when Steve Staunton's indecision compounded an earlier gaffe by Gary Breen, in allowing the Real Madrid player Predrag Mijatovic to sweep the ball home for the decisive goal.

"We allowed our concentration to slip for just a couple of seconds but I'm not prepared to apportion blame, if blame there be, until I have seen a video of the incident," he said.

"What I do know is that we played well enough on the night to have won the game and that made it all the more disappointing when we got back to the dressing room and tried to make sense of it all.

"I saw nothing in the game to alter my opinion that we'll beat them in Dublin. For most people outside Ireland, Yugoslavia and Croatia are still the best teams in Group Eight but if we manage a win in Macedonia, we can make it to the finals."

Given Roy Keane's expansive form and the emerging skills of players like Damien Duff, Robbie Keane and Mark Kinsella, it's an assessment which I believe, echoes the thoughts of many Irish supporters.