Irish players agree to pay freeze - March 12,
2001
The PFAI, the Eircom League players' union, met in Dublin yesterday and agreed to a pay freeze - but only for part-timers.
The players were responding to the foot-and-mouth disease crisis which saw all domestic games cancelled again for a second week running. All sporting events have been cancelled in Ireland because of the FMD outbreak in the UK, even though Ireland remains free of the disease.
But the players slapped an eight-week time limit on the freeze - and they insisted that full-time professionals should continue to be paid according to their contracts.
There are around 50 full-timers in the Eircom League - at Bohemians, St. Patrick's Athletic, Shelbourne, Cork City, Kilkenny City and Sligo Rovers.
PFAI chairman Fran Gavin said: "With the foot and mouth epidemic showing no signs of coming to a conclusion, we have agreed to this eight-week suspension of wages as we move into a third week without football."