The SSE Airtricity Premier Division game between St Patrick’s Athletic and Shelbourne on Sunday, August 7th has been postponed as St Pat’s are stranded in Bulgaria after their victory over CSKA Sofia in the Europa Conference League qualifier on Thursday night.
St Pat’s are not due to return to Ireland until Sunday morning and the game at Tolka Park will not go ahead as scheduled. The FAI have said they will review the matter internally.
St Pat’s said on Twitter they appreciated the FAI’s understanding of the predicament that they found themselves in and their sensible decision to call off tomorrow’s fixture.
“Under UEFA regulations, the use of charters is mandatory from the third qualifying round on. Because of the current difficulties in the aviation industry, which are well known, we and our travel brokers have had immense difficulty sourcing charters, the result of which has left the players and staff in Sofia and not in a position to return to Dublin until the early hours of Sunday morning,” St Pat’s said in the statement.
Shane Horgan’s Six Nations prediction almost comes true, while Off The Ball comments make BBC coverage
Sam Prendergast is both enthralling and enraging and everything else we learned from Ireland’s win over Wales
Death of a jockey: ‘Michael O’Sullivan was full of ambition, full of passion ... he was just a beautiful person’
From The Cowshed to Abbotstown: the odyssey of the Irish Indoor Championships
“Throughout the week we appraised the FAI & UEFA of our predicament and were grateful for their assistance. We understand many fans would have been looking forward to the game, we regret that this fixture is not going ahead as scheduled due to these unprecedented circumstances.”
