Shels are demoted to first division

Shelbourne officials will wait until they have the opportunity to consider the detail of the decision by the FAI's First Instance Committee to relegate them to the League of Ireland's first division before deciding on whether to appeal against the decision.

The league champions have until Friday to formally seek to have last night's decision by the association's licensing body overturned but with the club informed only of the decision itself last night, there was only the sense of shock that the club had been dealt yet another blow.

"The reality is that we can't really say anything about what we are going to do until we see their reasons," said one club source last night.

"I'm very surprised and very disappointed because we made a good case to them and really it was our view that nothing had substantially changed since the license was granted by the same committee back in October.

"Still, they have looked at the facts available to them now and made their decision. What the club will have to do is consider how they justify that decision before it decides on how to move forward. Until that," he concluded, "it's very difficult to give a reaction other than to say it's very disappointing."

The reality is that the club seems likely to challenge the sanction - the withdrawal of the club's premier division licence and a decision to grant a first division license instead - as there would be little or no possible advantage to allowing the process to end now. Other clubs, faced with similarly dire situations, have fared better with the appeals committee than with the First Instance Committee and for Shelbourne the stakes are particularly high.

The club has been in serious financial difficulty for the best part of a year now but a deal, finally concluded over the past few days, put it in a position to make back payments to players, settle its outstanding debts to the Revenue and guarantee that it would be able to pay its wage bill for the coming season. If upheld, last night's decision would revive the doubts about its future.

Critically, it suggests that the club may well also miss out on the license it requires to play in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League this season. The Uefa license required that clubs achieve higher standards in a number of areas although none of that would necessarily be relevant if the Premier Division license has been refused because members of the First Instance Committee felt that they were mislead when they first considered the matter of Shelbourne's financial difficulties late last year.

That suggestion has repeatedly been strenuously rejected by Tolka Park officials who have insisted that the level of debt amassed by the club over the last few years was accurately reflected in the accounts sent to Merrion Square in October.

If an appeal is unsuccessful the matter could yet end up before the courts although in such circumstances the FAI would take heart from the attitude of the High Court in regard to the challenge launched by Limerick against the loss of its own license. The court found that the procedures had been fair and expressed a very positive view of the licensing system generally.

Shelbourne may come to decide that it would be simply better for all concerned if it accepts the punishment.

If that happens then Waterford, which finished 13th in the association's recent selection procedure for the reorganised league would most likely be offered a place in the Premier Division for the coming season.