FAI ask Fifa to move Georgia qualifier to a neutral venue

SOCCER WORLD CUP:AMID CONCERNS that the conflict between Russia and Georgia might be broadening, the FAI have formally requested that Fifa move next month's World Cup qualifier from Tbilisi to a neutral venue.

In a statement issued after discussions with the Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday, the association confirmed it has contacted the game's international governing body as well as Uefa and the Georgian FA to make clear "its preferred option would be to find an alternative venue on the same date (September 6th) for the Group Eight World Cup qualifier against Georgia in Tbilisi."

The FAI, the statement concluded: "We will keep fans informed of any decision from Fifa on this matter and will continue to work with Fifa to enable them to make a timely decision."

Earlier, confirming the organisation's decision to request that the game be moved, its chief executive, John Delaney, said: "We have decided to formalise our position to Fifa and will be writing to them seeking a change of venue.

"We are very concerned about the worsening situation. The safety of the players and the fans must be our primary concern. We will of course monitor the situation carefully. But at this stage we cannot be assured of our safety in Georgia.

"We'll work with Fifa, Uefa and the Georgian FA to help in whatever way we can to make sure the game does not become a casualty of what is a very sad and difficult situation," he concluded.

It is the timing of the decision on the game that is likely to prove a key issue. A spokesman for the association said last night: "We'd like an early decision for the sake of the fans. We've had almost 1,000 applications for tickets and while we haven't actually sold any at this stage, we think it's appropriate that those people are clear about what's happening with the game."

Fifa, though, tend not to be inclined to make swift calls on such situations and yesterday the organisation would say only that it, "is closely monitoring the situation in Georgia (but) at this time, it is too early to speculate on any possibilities".

Uefa, meanwhile, have agreed Thursday's Uefa Cup tie between WIT Georgia and Austria Vienna will be moved out of the country, most likely to a venue in either Azerbaijan or Armenia.

The FAI's position on the September 6th game represents a hardening of its stance of late last week when it seemed happy enough to contemplate the idea of the game being postponed.

There are available dates in June and August of next year but association officials now express the fear that if Georgia's two home games in October end up having to be postponed then there might be real difficulties in getting the group schedule completed in an orderly way.

"We've been in contact with the Georgians and we have expressed to them both our sympathy regarding the situation in their country and our concern for the well-being of everyone involved with the association," said an FAI spokesperson.

"It's certainly not that we're trying to take advantage of the situation, simply that there's a fixture schedule and the games have to be played. Ideally, we'd like to play our away fixture against Georgia in Tbilisi but we believe that the priority is that the game is played in the date allocated to it."

The Georgians, meanwhile, are due to play Wales in Swansea on the 20th of this month and while the Welsh FA admit the game is in doubt, as of last night the official position was that it will still go ahead. The Georgian FA, however, have told Wales they still want to play their friendly.

The Wales FA have been monitoring the situation for the past few days, and privately felt the chances of the Georgians making it to the Liberty Stadium on August 20th were remote. But after discussions between the two associations yesterday, the Georgians have asked for a decision over whether the match can be played to be delayed until today.

FAW press officer Ceri Stennett issued a statement saying: "There will be further talks regarding the Wales v Georgia friendly on Wednesday. The Georgian FA are still very keen to play the match, but much will depend on events over the next 36 hours."

Many of the Georgian players are playing overseas in some of Europe's top league, so it would not be too difficult to assemble a squad without having to fly from Georgia.

Of the current Georgia squad, eight are based in their homeland, but there are seven playing in Russia, three in Germany, and one each in France and Italy. Their captain is AC Milan defender Kakha Kaladze, who has 62 caps, while vice-captain Levan Kobiashvili - capped 71 times - is with Schalke in Germany.

Wales will not seek a replacement country to take up the Swansea date if the Georgians are unable to fulfil the fixture. The FAW are acutely conscious of the humanitarian issues and they feel that to invite another nation would be insensitive.