UEFA reject FAI request to postpone

The fate of the Republic of Ireland's Euro 2000 qualifier against Yugoslavia a week on Saturday is back in the hands of the politicians following a meeting of UEFA's executive committee in Barcelona yesterday.

Faced with an application by the FAI to have the game postponed, they voted that it should go ahead as scheduled, a decision which was not wholly unexpected back in Dublin.

Now barring political intervention - and nobody is ruling out that possibility - Mick McCarthy's team will be back in European action for the first time since losing to the Yugoslavs in Belgrade last November.

The Irish case was put by Des Casey, a member of the UEFA body, who argued that in the light of the ongoing Kosovo crisis it would be unwise to proceed with the fixture as scheduled.

Casey then withdrew from the meeting, but after debating the issue for 40 minutes the executive committee ruled that there was nothing to justify a postponement.

Later, they dismissed an appeal by Croatia that the group fixtures should be played in sequence. The Croatians argued that the games postponed earlier in the year should now be played before any further fixtures to avoid giving what they interpreted as an unfair advantage to Yugoslavia.

Now the ball is back in the court of the politicians. Hoping that the decision would be taken out of their hands, the football authorities concede that there is still a possibility that the June programme involving Yugoslavia will have to be scrapped.

That could happen if the United Nations enforce a general embargo on sporting contact with Yugoslavia or the Irish Government harden their opposition to the game taking place.

Government ministers have already indicated that they are strongly opposed to the Yugoslavs' visit at a time when the Balkans war is still unresolved. Ultimately they have the power to withhold visas from the Yugoslavs, but this is an option which would put them on a collision course with two other European Union countries, Italy and Greece.

"We understand that there is opposition to the game in Dublin taking place, but we cannot go on postponing games indefinitely," said a UEFA spokesman.

"People must realise that we are attempting to preserve normality in a war situation. That is of course very difficult, but we would hope that national federations will be reasonable and see the problem for what it is."

Meanwhile, manager Mick McCarthy's worst fears were confirmed yesterday when it was confirmed that Leeds United defender Ian Harte is out of his squad for their games in Dublin against Northern Ireland on Saturday, and against Yugoslavia (June 5th) and Macedonia (June 9th).

Harte first picked up a knee injury in Leeds United's final home game of the season against Arsenal at Elland Road. Leeds club secretary Ian Silvester confirmed Harte would be out for some time, but remains hopeful rest will help the full back return fit for the club's pre-season training.

"Ian took a knock in our final home game against Arsenal and he's been carrying an injury for a little while now. The medical advice is that he needs to rest given that that will be sufficient until we resume pre-season training," Silvester said.

With long-term absentees Gary Kelly (Leeds) and Jeff Kenna (Blackburn), Harte now joins Liverpool's Steve Staunton in a lengthy Republic injury-list. But although McCarthy looks short in cover for the full-back roles, there are no immediate plans to add to the 21-man panel currently preparing for Saturday's Omagh Bomb Disaster Fund match against Lawrie McMenemy's team.

That leaves the way open for Spurs defender Stephen Carr to build on last month's successful international debut when the Republic defeated Sweden 2-0 in Dublin. "Stephen did very well in that game and has impressed me on every occasion I have watched him in action for Spurs this season," said McCarthy.

Despite a slow start to ticket sales for the Northern Ireland game, FAI officials are still confident of a sizeable crowd for Saturday's ninth meeting of the sides.

"Special caravans will be in place outside Lansdowne Road so that fans will be able to purchase tickets right up to the last minute. For such a deserving fund, we hope there is a huge response from throughout the country," said FAI commercial manager Eddie Cox.

Eirik Bakke is confident he can bridge the great divide between Norway's First Division and the English Premiership following his £1.75 million switch to Leeds United yesterday.

The 21-year-old central midfielder is the first of David O'Leary's summer signings.