EU asked to clarify strategy

UEFA officials said yesterday that the timing of their decision on the Republic of Ireland's postponed game with Yugoslavia depends on the response to a letter they sent to European Union officials on Wednesday.

In it, they sought clarification of the EU's attitude to sporting contact with Yugoslavia and, more particularly, if the refusal of the Government to issue visas to the Yugoslav party was in line with EU strategy.

UEFA are also at pains to establish why an apparent policy of isolation is being implemented in football while Yugoslav teams are being allowed to take part in continental basketball championships.

"These are the kind of answers we need from the EU before we can make conclusions about the postponed game in Dublin," said a spokesman. "We have informed them of the urgency of a response and we hope to have it within the next two weeks."

The next meeting of UEFA's executive committee is scheduled for July 2nd but the matter may be discussed by the control and disciplinary committee in the intervening period.

Ahead of those sessions, an appeasement programme is already being put in place by the FAI who are anxious to defuse the anger which the governing body displayed on being informed of the Government's unprecedented action in debarring the Yugoslavs from entering the country.

Initial fears that UEFA would award the points by default to Yugoslavia are receding and in the light of the new diplomatic initiatives in Belgrade, there is now a shaft of hope that the game will eventually be rescheduled for Dublin.

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder were among the high-profile figures reported to have interested themselves in the controversy over the last 48 hours, elevating the fixture to a prominence it could never have had in normal circumstances.

In the meantime, Mick McCarthy must replace Shay Given for next Wednesday's game against Macedonia at Lansdowne Road. Fears that the goalkeeper had sustained a serious injury in a freak incident during a warm-up routine on Wednesday were unhappily substantiated when an X-ray disclosed that he had damaged a cartilage.

He underwent an operation in Newcastle yesterday but still hopes to be available for the start of the club's championship programme in August. It means that Alan Kelly is now almost certain to start on Wednesday with the uncapped Dean Kiely providing the cover.

It marks a change of fortune for Kelly, himself the victim of a series of injuries, who will be making his first international appearance since the World Cup qualifying game against Romania at Lansdowne Road 18 months ago.

Given is the fourth player to withdraw from the squad, following the loss of Roy Keane, Steve Staunton and Ian Harte but the good news is that Jason McAteer is expected to have recovered in time from a calf muscle injury.

Meanwhile, on the domestic front, Paul Doolan is expected to be confirmed as the new manager of Dundalk at a noon press conference today, reports Emmet Malone. The 36-year-old former Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians and Derry City midfielder is likely to take on the role of player-manager for at least his first season in charge.

Doolan, who had previously applied for the Bohemians job when it became vacant last summer, beat off a great deal of competition from both inside and outside Oriel Park. Besides Doolan, who had a brief spell with the club before joining Shelbourne midway through last season, the Dundalk board are expected to ratify the appointments of former Newry Town manager Ollie Ralph and their own long-serving assistant manager Tommy Connolly as part of the new management team.

Shelbourne have had it confirmed that they will take on Swiss side Neuchatel Xamax in the first round of the InterToto Cup. The first leg will take place at Tolka Park on Sunday June 20th with the return match scheduled a week later in Switzerland.