Eircom League wipeout: the next step - March 5,
2001
The FAI will meet today or tomorrow with Department of Agriculture officials to decide the next step in its response to the foot-and-mouth disease scare.
In line with other sports bodies, soccer administrators cancelled all events scheduled for the weekend just gone, at senior, junior and underage levels - and that meant a complete wipeout of Eircom League and FAI Cup matches.
Now the FAI will hear what the Department of Agriculture wants them to do next - but the prospects for the season being completed are not good.
Speaking on RTE TV's Late Late Show on Friday night, the Minister for Agriculture, Joe Walsh, intimated that he would not give the go-ahead for the resumption of sports fixtures until 30 days after the last outbreak in the UK.
As of now, that means the countdown clock is yet to start as new cases of foot-and-mouth are still being reported in the UK on a daily basis.