McCarthy to check ruling

Following the relaxation of the five-day release rule, Mick McCarthy is to seek urgent clarification of the position for the Republic of Ireland's rearranged European Championship game against Yugoslavia on September 1st.

Since this is not an official international date, the FIFA rule making it incumbent on clubs to release players to join in the build-up to competitive international games does not apply to the Lansdowne Road fixture.

Both national federations were informed of this by FIFA after the new date had been announced, but in a rider the parent body recommended that clubs should make players available to the national managers 72 hours before the game.

Now McCarthy is asking for a more precise ruling as he contemplates the prospect of having to start his preparations without the Manchester United players Roy Keane and Denis Irwin.

"If it amounts to nothing more than a recommendation, with no enforcement powers, then I think we could be in trouble with certain clubs," he said.

"If, on the other hand, it is meant as a directive we should be able to get players in early and avoid the risk of people picking up injuries. As a former club manager myself, I know this may cause problems for clubs but from where I stand it has to be done.

"People like Alex Ferguson have been particularly helpful to us in the past. Hopefully, that kind of spirit will again be in evidence, for this is one of the biggest games we've played for some time and we need our players to be properly prepared for it."

In the absence of decisive intervention by FIFA, Manchester United could include both Keane and Irwin in their team to face Newcastle United in the Premiership at Old Trafford on August 30th, just 48 hours before the European Championship game.

Shay Given could be selected by Newcastle manager Ruud Gullit and with three key players at risk of being injured, McCarthy could find his team plans seriously disrupted on the eve of the game.

Nor is that an isolated case for Blackburn, who now have five Ireland players - Jeff Kenna, Damien Duff, Jason McAteer, Lee Carsley and Alan Kelly - on their books, meet Bolton Wanderers on August 30th, a Bank holiday in England.

Equally disturbing is the fact that Wolves are due to play Crystal Place at Selhurt Park on the eve of the Ireland game and as things stand, could insist on including Robbie Keane in their team.

"At the moment, the situation is pretty nightmarish but, hopefully, FIFA will soon act and make it imperative for clubs to let us have selected players a full 72 hours before our match," said McCarthy. "This kind of uncertainty cannot be allowed to last much longer."

UEFA confirmed yesterday that Spanish referees will take chrage of Ireland's critical away assignments against Croatia (September 4th) and Macedonia (October 9th). Manuel Diaz Vega will referee the Croatian fixture while Juan Antonio Fernandez will officiate at Skopje.

A venue has yet to be decided for the European Under-21 Championship game against Croatia on September 3rd. It will be played either in Zagreb or in Varazdin, about 50 miles outside the Croatian capital.