The deadline for new applications for inclusion in next season's ESB Superleague passed at midnight on Wednesday without a submission from Regional Division One champions Ballina.
The Mayo club, which has twice won the national cup over the last decade in thrilling circumstances, were forced to drop out of the league a year ago after failing to satisfy the IBA that they could meet the exacting standards of the then newly-created 14 team structure.
In spite of winning the regional Division One title last month, the Ballina club have, with a collective heavy heart, decided against applying for top flight status because they were unhappy with the state of their home venue in Killala.
"To be honest, the gym in Killala is only just about adequate for Division One matches," said club secretary, John McManus, yesterday. "I don't think we'd be happy, and I'm pretty sure the IBA wouldn't either, to stage Superleague games there."
The only new applicants for men's Superleague status next season are Clare Jets and 1996 Superleague champions, Tralee, both of whom were beaten by Ballina in the Division One playoffs.
It is still not clear how many existing Superleague teams will reapply, as their deadline is not until the end of April.
The most likely candidates to drop out appear to be Tolka Rovers, who won only two of their 26 games in the campaign just finished. Under league regulations, the north Dublin club now face a fine of £800 for performing so poorly should they wish to reapply for status. They must also pay, like other teams, a returnable bond of £1,000 to the association before they can even look for money to secure foreign players.
On the international front, with the European Championship men's qualifying campaign only seven weeks away, there is a strong likelihood that Ireland will have an exciting new acquisition to the squad that travels to Switzerland for the five-match group competition from May 19th-23rd.
Mihajlo Pesic, (17), who recently signed a $1.2m three-year contract with Sony Milano in Italy, looks likely to declare his allegiance to Ireland in the next few weeks and then immediately join the Irish squad in training.
The 6ft 9in player's mother is from Malahide, while his Yugoslav father, Bosidor Pesic, played for Killester in the 1980s.
The IBA are also working hard behind the scenes to secure the services of Ireland's first choice centre, Pat Burke, for the Irish qualification campaign, although he has serious club commitments in Greece which clash with the qualification group in Switzerland. Burke will be part of the Panathanaikos team which is virtually certain to qualify for the end-of-season Greek championship play-offs which begin on May 19th, the same day as Ireland's first match in Switzerland. The other countries in Ireland's group are Georgia, Portugal, Belgium, Denmark and the hosts, Switzerland. The top three in the section will progress to the semi-final stages of qualification for the European championships.
