Difficulties surrounding the proposed joint testimonial game for John Aldridge and Ray Houghton may herald the end of the lucrative scheme for senior members of the national squad.

FAI sources say that it is likely to be phased out over the next few years because of the problems in accommodating games in an already crowded programme.

Denying that it was a direct response to an increasingly bitter wrangle over the proposed fixture for Aldridge and Houghton, one official said that the evolving structure of international football had forced the FAI into a harsh reappraisal of testimonial games.

"Under the terms of our agreement with the IRFU we are restricted to a certain number of games each year at Lansdowne Road and competitive games take care of most of these," the official said.

"The international calendar is becoming more pressurised by the year and if, as suggested, the World Cup becomes a biennial competition, the situation can only get worse.

"There will be exceptions for worthy causes, like the game against Northern Ireland next April which will benefit the Omagh fund. Generally, however, the idea of rewarding players with testimonials is now past its sell by date."

Alone of all European national federations the FAI has honoured its senior internationals with big pay days at the end of their careers, a policy which dates back to John Giles's in 1979.

Now, they claim that public opinion supports them in their stance that modern players are sufficiently well paid to be able to secure their long term futures. That does not, of course, take account of exceptional cases like that of David Langan, the former Ireland full back who became partially disabled because of an injury sustained on international duty.

Langan's plight continues to gnaw, although an FAI official revealed that three former internationals are currently in receipt of financial assistance from the association.

That gesture is to be welcomed and, set alongside the Players Benevolent Fund, reflects a willingness to help those who have fallen on hard times.

Yet, any decision to scrap the concept of testimonial games for worthy causes would be interpreted as a backward step for an organisation which has always prided itself on its loyalty.

Meanwhile, the decision of the FAI's executive committee to endorse an earlier ruling by the officer board, to veto the proposed game for Aldridge and Houghton next May, is likely to strain relations with squad members.

The two former Liverpool players had hoped to organise a game between an Ireland XI and Liverpool, a fixture which might have been expected to attract a crowd in excess of 35,000 to Lansdowne Road.

Now Ireland teammates are rallying to their support following the FAI's decision to debar them on foot of a revised rule, increasing the minimum qualification for beneficiaries from 50 to 75 caps which, the association argues, was introduced in 1994.

It is contended that Aldridge and Houghton were qualified before that revision and that the rule should now be implemented retrospectively. Additionally, it is claimed that the FAI, in the presence of other players, gave a verbal undertaking to ratify the fixture.