Shamrock Rovers chairman Jonathan Roche has insisted the club would not have agreed to play Real Madrid in next Monday’s friendly if it had known the fixture would affect the club’s league game against Sligo Rovers.
Roche was speaking this afternoon after the FAI expressed regret at Dublin City Council’s insistence that Saturday’s game against Sligo be played at Shelbourne’s Tolka Park.
The council cited health and safety concerns as the motivation to shift the venue from the Tallaght Stadium.
"We're very disappointed in hindsight," Roche told the Irish Timestoday. "If we'd known this was going to happen we wouldn't have agreed to play Real Madrid.
“It was mooted last Friday, and since then the FAI has tried their utmost to sort things out, but the council insisted that the game couldn’t go ahead on safety grounds.
“It’s an alarm bell to us, and presumably the FAI, that something like this could happen.
“This could have an effect on our friendlies going forward. There is no reason why the Sligo game couldn’t go on, but clearly we can’t allow friendly games to be interfering with out league campaign,” added Roche, who thanked Shels for accommodating the fixture.
“Fair play to Shelbourne though, again they come to the rescue.”
The council’s concerns are thought to centre on preparing the stadium for the high-profile friendly with the Spanish giants just 48 hours after the meeting with Sligo.
It’s a call that the FAI are clearly uncomfortable with as well.
Earlier today, league director Fran Gavin, said: “We are disappointed that this game will not go ahead in Tallaght.
“Last Thursday (July 9th), the FAI received official notification of the council’s decision to close the venue and having tried to find a solution, including playing the game on Friday night, South Dublin County Council have decided that the game will not go ahead at the Tallaght Stadium.”
The statement added: “The FAI grants permission for all friendly fixtures on the clear understanding that there would be no effect on the playing of scheduled League of Ireland fixtures, all parties including South Dublin County Council were aware of that.”
