FAI increase ticket prices

Soccer: The FAI board of management have decided to raise the price of tickets for the Republic of Ireland's forthcoming World Cup qualifying campaign. Ticket prices will rise by an average of 12 per cent.

The progress of Eircom Park was again discussed during the meeting with the resignation of the association's treasurer, Brendan Menton, from the board of Centime Limited, the company established to oversee the development of the grounds, causing particular concern.

During the meeting the directors passed a resolution aimed at giving Menton full access to all of the documents relating to the project. It is now anticipated that he will make his long awaited report to the League clubs over the coming weeks.

Gaelic Games: The GAA has confirmed that the builders' strike at Croke Park has ended. The dispute between workers and Sisks the builders lasted two days and had the potential to cause havoc with the redevelopment and severely curtail the All-Ireland attendance figures.

The GAA also announced that some tickets for this afternoon's Leinster final replay have gone missing. This is somewhat embarrassing as the same thing happened before the drawn match. Accordingly Croke Park authorities are warning people who buy tickets from unauthorised sources that entry to the ground cannot be guaranteed as the ticket numbers have been recorded.

Today's match is a sell-out but a limited number of tickets for tomorrow's All-Ireland hurling semi-final between Galway and Kilkenny will be available at Croke Park tomorrow morning from 10 o'clock. They are priced at £20 for the stand and £10 for the terrace.

Gaelic Games: After earlier uncertainty, it has been decided to proceed with the All-Ireland B football championship later this year. The first round draw is: Limerick v Wexford; Leitrim v Tipperary and Monaghan v Fermanagh, with games scheduled for September 16th. Carlow, Waterford, Louth and Longford will enter the second phase on September 30th with the semi-finals on October 7th and the final on October 22nd.

Athletics: Peter Coghlan returns to competition at the Mazda Track and Field League finals in Tullamore tomorrow, eager to regain his best form as the countdown continues to the Olympic Games in Sydney. Coghlan has yet to finish a 110-metre hurdles race since returning from a groin operation earlier in the summer (he pulled up in Budapest last month) but is now back to full training and he is confident of approaching his national record form of last summer. Tomorrow's action (from 11.30) will feature most all of Ireland's Sydney qualifiers, including Susan Walsh in the 400 hurdles, James Nolan over 800 metres, and Ciaran McDonagh in the long jump.

Cycling: Four stages down, two to go and the Great Britain squad have a vice-like grip on the Junior Tour. David Heaven won his second stage of the race yesterday in a mass-bunch sprint, bringing his tally to four stages in two years. Heaven's compatriot, 17-year-old Kieran Page, once again retained the yellow leader's jersey, which he took on the opening leg of the race.