Long fiasco could have cost qualifying points
By Philip Quinn
Tuesday October 23 2007
Embattled FAI chief executive John Delaney is under-fire over the Shane Long eligibility fiasco, which will cost the FAI a fine but could have cost the Irish team an away point in the European Championship 2008 qualifiers.
Long was an unused substitute against Slovakia last month but he shouldn’t have been on the bench as he was serving a five-game UEFA ban for a red card in an Irish U19 international in 2006.
Under UEFA rules, suspensions carry through different grades so when Long moved up to U21 level, the ban came too.
And that’s where things became complicated.
European football’s governing body will allow a suspended player take part in senior internationals, once they don’t run in tandem with U21 games.
Long, therefore, was able to participate against Germany last Saturday week at Croke Park as there was no competitive U21 game the night before.
But Long wasn’t eligible to play against either Slovakia, which the FAI didn’t realise, or against Cyprus, which the FAI twigged just it in time, making up a fictitious injury story and sending him home.
Had Long played even one minute in Bratislava, a 2-2 draw would have become a 3-0 defeat.
The FAI issued a statement last night, attempting to shift the blame at UEFA’s door.
It read: "When Shane Long was called into the senior squad for the Euro 2008 qualifier versus San Marino last February the FAI checked his eligibility with UEFA and was assured that he was free to play at senior international level and that his suspension only applied to under age level.
“Once the association became aware, after the game in Slovakia, that there was a problem with the player’s eligibility for senior internationals, it immediately contacted UEFA for clarification,” continued the FAI statement.
"On reflection, UEFA has confirmed that they recognise how the FAI came to the conclusion they did because of the content of the correspondence received from UEFA
