September 1st was last night confirmed as the rescheduled date for the crucial European Championship qualifier between the Republic of Ireland and Yugoslavia.
Representatives of the FAI, the Yugoslav FA and UEFA met at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles yesterday and agreed that the first day of September was the only realistic date the match could be played. But with Manchester United due to meet Newcastle United in a Premiership game two days earlier, there is now some anxiety in the Irish camp over whether key stars Roy Keane, Dennis Irwin and Shay Given will be able to take part in the squad's normal preparations. Because September 1st is not a recognised international date, club sides will not be obliged to release players to national associations under the five day rule. However, UEFA has given a commitment to the FAI that it will write to clubs requesting that a voluntary three day rule be observed, something which would allow the three players in question to meet up with Mick McCarthy over the weekend before the game.
The difficulty over the three players aside, FAI officials said last night that they were happy with the way the meeting had gone. FAI general secretary Bernard O'Byrne described the atmosphere as "most congenial", adding that it would be good to "get back to playing football as a result of the matter finally being resolved".
UEFA also expressed their satisfaction with the way what has been an embarrassing issue for them has been resolved. Senior officials, including general secretary Gerhard Aigner and president Lennart Johansson, have indicated that they will help in any way possible to ensure that the rescheduled match goes ahead without further problems.
The match, to be played on a Wednesday night at Lansdowne Road, will now kick-off a frantic eight days for Mick McCarthy's players who must then play in Croatia on the Saturday and Malta the following Wednesday.
The rescheduling of the under21 international will also mean a hectic week for Ian Evans's side and, with that in mind, the original plan to play that game in Cork has now been shelved. No date has actually been set for the refixed game, but it will now take place in Dublin on either the Tuesday evening or at noon on the Wednesday with Tolka or Richmond Parks the most likely venues.
Republic of Ireland winger Mark Kennedy (23) has joined Manchester City for a fee of £1 million, which will increase to £1.5million after Kennedy has played a number of games. Kennedy expressed his pleasure at getting the chance to resurrect his career after struggling to get regular first-team football at Wimbledon: "City are a big club and once they came in for me Joe (Royle) didn't have to try too hard to sell the move to me.
"I knew that he had tried to get me on loan last season so I was cheering them on in the Division Two play-offs."
