Soccer team to mark massacre

The families of six men shot dead in a sectarian massacre have praised football chiefs after they agreed to let the Republic of Ireland mark the atrocity at Euro 2012.

The team will wear black armbands while playing Italy on June 18 — exactly 18 years since the Loughin-island massacre during the World Cup in the US in 1994.

The FAI confirmed that European football chiefs gave the go-ahead for the remembrance as the team take on Italy, a repeat of the match the victims were watching.