SOCCER/News: FIFA officials yesterday dismissed reports that the organisation had no difficulty with the FAI continuing to use temporary seating when playing senior international games at Lansdowne Road.

Nicolas Maingot, an official in the organisation's media department, strongly denied claims that the game's governing body is content to see the present arrangements - whereby around 13,000 spectators are accommodated on temporary bucket seats for competitive games at the Dublin stadium - continue as long as the public authorities here give their consent.

Walter Gagg - a director for technical matters, stadiums and safety at FIFA's development division and the man who inspected Lansdowne Road on behalf of the federation in July - also described comments credited to an unnamed spokesman for the organisation which suggested the federation would be taking its lead on the use of Lansdowne Road from local authorities as "wrong information".

In his comments, Maingot broadly backed the position of the FAI, although he stopped short of specifically confirming its claims that a derogation from FIFA in relation to the use of temporary seating had expired and that its continued use for competitive games had effectively been banned from the start of this year.

Repeated attempts by The Irish Times in recent weeks to have this particular point clarified by FIFA officials have failed to produce a definitive reply from the organisation's Swiss offices.

Maingot, however, did make it clear that the organisation was deeply dissatisfied with the current situation. "We have been in regular touch with both the national association and the public authorities," he said, "and we have been clear about the situation - the use of a lot of provisional seats - which has lasted too long.

"We sent Walter Gagg in July to carry out an inspection and after it we reiterated to the FAI that we were unhappy with the situation," he continued. "It was supposed to be temporary but it has gone on too long. We asked them to come up with a solution."

Asked if a commitment that the stadium was to be redeveloped in the near future would amount to a solution in FIFA's eyes, Maingot said that the organisation would consider the matter in the event that that is what they are told.

"We would carry out another inspection and it would be up to be the people carrying it out to assess any changes to the situation."

He added that the organisation was in "regular contact" with both the FAI and the civil authorities here regarding the situation.

The comments are the closest the FIFA have come to clarifying its position in relation to temporary seating, although nobody from the organisation has explicitly stated in public that the FAI will not be able to use temporary seating during the forthcoming World Cup campaign.

This has given rise to the suspicion in some quarters that the association is playing up the threat to increase pressure on the Government as it considers whether to fund either the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road or a new stadium at Abbotstown.

Both the Taoiseach and the Minister for Sport, Arts and Tourism have recently cited the prospect of the Irish team playing some of its home games outside the state as one of the considerations involved in making a decision on the stadium proposals.

The FAI's chief executive Fran Rooney insists, however, that both the threat of a ban on temporary seating at Lansdowne Road and the prospect that the Irish team may have to play home matches in Britain are very real.

He said yesterday that, "I have spoken again this morning to FIFA and the position remains unchanged. The derogation allowing us to use temporary seating for competitive matches has expired and the message from FIFA this morning was clear - without a firm plan in place for a new stadium, there will be no further derogation."

The growing expectation within soccer is that one or other of the stadium development proposals - most likely the one involving the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road - will be approved by the Government before the end of this month and the suggestion that senior Government figures might have been basing any part of their case for pressing ahead with the project on spurious information is potentially embarrassing for the FAI.

A spokesman for the organisation conceded yesterday the FIFA threat in relation to the continued use of temporary seating had never been put in writing to the organisation, but, he said, Gagg made it entirely clear that this was the situation when he visited Dublin in July.

During that visit Gagg met not only with leading members of the FAI but also with Government officials and he has remained the main point of contact at FIFA in relation to the issue.

FIFA's objections to the use of temporary seating are the result of a number of tragedies involving the collapse of structures that have, more than once in recent years, resulted in a considerable loss of life.

In the worst of those cases, however, the structures involved have been free standing rather being constructed on existing terracing, as is the case at Lansdowne Road.