Roy: Hero or devil?

ROY KEANE will play his first competitive fixture in Ireland tomorrow afternoon unsure if fans will welcome him as hero or villain.

With 10,000 supporters expected at Tolka Park for Shelbourne’s pre-season clash with Manchester United, the Red Devil captain will soon discover if he is has been forgiven for the World Cup debacle.

A spokesman for the official Republic of Ireland supporters club said the majority of fans are still angry with Keane. “There will be lingering bitterness among some supporters over what happened in Saipan. I think about 70% of them are unhappy with Roy. Some are sure to make their way to Tolka,” supporters club PRO Tommy Coughlan said.

But Shelbourne predicts a warm reception for the former captain of the national team.

“There will be no booing. Why should there be? Keane is one of the greatest players to ever line out for the country,” a spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, Sports Minister John O’Donoghue last night offered to set up an independent arbitration system to ensure RTÉ cannot abuse its market dominance in bidding for sports broadcast rights.

The move came as the Government today publishes advertisements advancing procedures to list key sporting events which must be shown free on television. The initiative was boosted by the GAA whose President Sean McCague said they had no objection in principle and wanted to discuss details but both the FAI and IRFU remain hostile.

Mr O’Donoghue made it clear that there will be no going back on the decision to block the exclusive 7.5m Sky-FAI deal which deprives people without subscription of seeing Irish soccer internationals.

“I believe that some mechanism can be realised whereby RTÉ pays a fair price for the broadcast rights. We could not have a situation where RTÉ got the rights for half-nothing because they have a dominant place in the market,” the Minister said.

FAI spokesman Declan Conroy said it was too early to comment on the Minister’s suggestion. “We’ve got a very complex situation. We have a signed contract with Sky. They now own the rights and it’s going to be difficult,” he said.

Communications Minister Dermot Ahern last night welcomed the GAA president’s reaction and said he looked forward to further discussions with them. But a spokesman for Mr Ahern again rejected the FAI assertion that the Government cannot undo the FAI-Sky television deal.