FAI dig in for the long haul

The FAI will, as expected, seek legal advice on how to respond to Shelbourne's attempt to have the findings of last week's arbitration on the "Paul Marney affair" overturned. But the association's general secretary, Brendan Menton, warned last night that the issue could rumble on beyond the end of the season with "disastrous" consequences for the league.

"The letter (Shelbourne) have sent us today is from their solicitors," Menton said, "so I'll have ours look at it before making any response."

He added that he has no authority to overturn the decision of arbitrator Liam Reidy to restore the nine points docked from St Patrick's as a result of their breach of rule in the non-registration of Marney. It is unlikely that any real progress will be made before the FAI's next board of management meeting which is scheduled for the first day of next month.

In their letter Shelbourne seek to have the case re-opened on the basis of evidence which, they say, contradicts the claim by St Patricks Athletic that they posted Marney's registration form in an unregistered letter.

The club seeks to have the nine-point deduction reimposed while this evidence is considered and seek clarification on how long an appeal to FIFA might take to resolve the matter.

Menton said last night that such an appeal would take "up to three months" which might yield a result before the draw for European competitions. "But it would be disastrous from a footballing point of view because you might not know who won the league after the last round of games are played," added Menton.

Derry City chairman Jim Roddy said that his club would not be taking any further active part in the dispute as, having given evidence to Reidy's original hearing, it felt bound by his decision.

"We entirely understand Shelbourne's position, though. Football is a business and they have invested heavily in qualifying for Europe. We agree with them that the decision in the arbitration process was the wrong one."

Carlisle United manager Roddy Collins has said he will return to Ireland next Wednesday and will offer terms to Bohemians players Kevin Hunt and Glen Crowe as well as Trevor Molloy and Brian Shelley for next season.