NORTHERN IRELAND will hear within the next 24 hours the fate of their World Cup qualifier against Albania, which is scheduled for December 14th in Belfast, following FIFA's decision yesterday to suspend their opponents from the tournament.

John Quinn the commercial press officer for the Irish Football Association, explained that FIFA had confirmed Albania's suspension was because of government interference. They were now waiting to find out how the news will affect their fixture and expect to hear soon.

"Because of the proximity of the game we are anxious to hear from them, but our discussions up to now have only been on the decision, not what will follow it."

Quinn admitted the news had come as a genuine surprise to the Irish FA. Preparations for the match have been in place for some time.

"It is unusual for this type of thing to happen but until we know more about it, we cannot react. We have just got to wait for FIFA to explain what happens next. It would be unfair for us to comment too much at this stage as FIFA have not officially told us the exact scenario and what it means for us."

FIFA's announced yesterday afternoon said the Albanian Football Association was suspended "until further notice" and was intelligible to play any international matches, including World Cup qualifying games.

FIFA officials said they hoped the conflict with the Albanian government would be resolved before then, but if not, it was possible the game could be rescheduled for a later date.

After two games, Albania are currently bottom of Group Nine, which also includes Germany, Portugal, Armenia and the Ukraine.

FIFA have revealed they acted after Albania's ministry of education and sport suspended the general secretary of the national association, Eduard Dervishi, and dissolved its executive committee.

The statement from FIFA added: "We considered that these decisions violated FIFA's statutory provisions as well as the agreement proposed by a FIFA/UEFA delegation and agreed upon by State Secretary for Sports, Marjeta Zace, in Tirana on October 29th.

"FIFA does not recognise these decisions and considers that the dissolved executive committee and Mr Eduard Dervishi are its only official contacts at the FA of Albania."

Keith Cooper, FIFA spokesman, said the action was taken to protect the national federation "in the face of political interference".