THE Republic of Ireland’s Euro play-off against Slovakia has been postponed until later in the year.
UEFA held a teleconference call today with all 55 member federations.
A completion of the continent’s carious club competitions will be the priority once the suspension of football activity, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, is lifted.
The escalation of the spread of the coronavirus has resulted in a drastic rethink to football’s hopes of returning to action in the short-term.
The Euro 2020 finals have been postponed and rescheduled to the summer of 2021.
Ireland were due to play Slovakia in Bratislava on March 26. First, the game was pushed back until June, but the date has now been put further into the distance.
No new date has been fixed, but it will be September, at least, it seems before the game is played.
The winner of the Ireland-Slovakia game will face Bosnia-Herzegovina or Northern Ireland in a play-off with the winner of that fixture qualifying for the finals.
In a statement, UEFA said: “All national team matches for men and women due to be played in June 2020 are postponed until further notice. This includes the play-off matches for UEFA Euro 2020 and qualifying matches for UEFA Women’s Euro 2021.”
Today’s news leaves the Football Association of Ireland in a bind. Stephen Kenny, the current Under-21 manager, was due to succeed Mick McCarthy as senior boss on August 1, but talks on a review of that that will now need to be held with the relevant parties.
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