SOLICITORS for the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) are to ask Dublin Circuit Court next week to determine the liability, if any, of the English Football Association for injuries to spectators during the riot at the England Republic of Ireland match at Lansdowne Road.
Compensation claims against the FAI and gardai are pending in the Dublin Circuit Court after 50 people were injured during the riot at the ground, on February 15th last year.
The FAI alleges that improper ticket handling by the English FA contributed to the events. The "friendly" international soccer match was abandoned after half an hour of play after English fans went on a rampage.
The FAI solicitors argue that the English FA, must accept some responsibility for the injuries to innocent fans, at a hearing in Dublin Circuit Court next Friday.
"The application being brought by the FAI's solicitors is solely a technical application to ensure that all the correct parties are named in the proceedings being brought arising from the incident in Lansdowne Road on the 15th February 1995," according to Mr Michael Corrigan, solicitor for the FAI.
"In most cases the English FA were already named as defendants and the applications are brought solely to ensure a consistent approach is adopted in all cases. The English FA are well aware of this and already have Irish solicitors acting on their behalf."
The FAI, which will seek to have the English FA listed as codefendants in the forthcoming cases, was severely criticised for security arrangements at the ground after the riot. The Garda also faced criticism and is listed as a defendant in several cases.
Most of the cases are not due to be heard for another 18 months in the Circuit Court where a maximum of £30,006 can be awarded.
"There are a number of cases which we are defending very rigorously which arise from the Dublin riots. We have instructed solicitors to act on our behalf. That is all I can say," a spokesman for the English FA, Mr Steve Double, said.
A Dublin, solicitor, Mr Alan Synnott acting on behalf of some of the injured spectators, said he was not surprised by the development.
"In circumstances such as this, blame very rarely lies with a single individual or organisation," he said. "This is not to say that the English FA have a liability in this matter, that is something that will be thrashed out in court at a later date."