Cash crisis looms

It's a little ironic that the league clubs met yesterday to discuss introducing "summer soccer" over the next couple of seasons at the very time they are desperately hoping to avoid having it foisted upon them in a couple of months. The feeling on the foot-and-mouth crisis appears to be that if things go well over the next week or so then cup and league games could start up again by March 23rd - although some feel that is optimistic.

If it did happen, then the season would run until roughly mid May. But the fear is that the remarks by the Minister for Agriculture regarding precautions here running until 30 days after the last case in Britain has been uncovered could mean the current break could last a matter of months and the traditional close season could all but disappear.

Quite what would happen in those circumstances remains unclear, particularly given that Fran Gavin of the PFAI concedes that clubs may begin having difficulties meeting their wage bills as early as next week. And already players who booked holidays for early May, some on the basis that they might have to be back to train for the InterToto cup, have been in contact with their union.

After yesterday's meeting in Merrion Square the clubs have decided to approach the players' organisation with a view to reaching an accommodation over wages. They hope to meet within the next couple of days.

The hope seems to be that the PFAI will agree to defer wages until the regular competition recommences after the current difficulties have passed. The idea is that the players would end up being paid for the same number of weeks, as most are not paid during the summer, it's just that the weeks involved would change.

In the context of the overall cost of this potential crisis to the economy the figures involved are tiny, but for clubs whose day-to-day existence is often hand-to-mouth, they could prove crippling.

Late last week it was reported that the Minister for Sport, Dr McDaid, had said the question of compensation didn't arise because the games will still be played, but there's little doubt that the amount of disruption being experienced will leave many clubs badly out of pocket.

It would be astonishing in the circumstances if the Government didn't look sympathetically at the situation when the crisis is resolved.

Meanwhile, the proposal to switch the season to one which might run from the start of March to December has received a surprising amount of support, given that a watered down version of it couldn't muster sufficient backing less than a year ago.

Yesterday, on the other hand, there was what UCD secretary Brendan Dillon described as "overwhelming" support for the proposal at the board of control, and it will be discussed next Monday by the board of management. A similar response there and it seems that, after years of vague talk, and, more recently, serious debate, the people who run the game will finally start looking at the mechanics of how to implement such a fundamental overhaul of the calendar.