FAI have plans to fly Robbie to Tbilisi

THE FAI have made special plans to fly Robbie Keane to Tbilisi today if he decides to play against Georgia tomorrow in the European Championship qualifying tie.

The FAI have gone to pains to ensure there is no pressure on the centre-forward who is grieving the loss of his father, also Robbie, who was buried yesterday. Indeed no official was prepared to confirm that seats have been booked that would take him from Dublin to London and on to Tbilisi at this sensitive time.

It goes without saying that if Keane decides to travel then Ireland's prospects of recovering lost ground in the championship would be hugely enhanced. But football is regarded by the FAI as a distant second to the player's feelings and those of his family at this time of mourning.

The Irish squad touched down last evening in the freezing cold Georgian capital of Tbilisi, in an atmosphere so far removed from the glamour of last Summer's World Cup as was possible to imagine.

Brian Kerr could not have picked a more remote, sparse, location than the Georgian capital for his competitive debut as senior manager. The general feeling of gloom was relieved only briefly as Kerr and his assistant Noel O'Reilly were greeted by a couple of local officials who remembered them from their time here with the Irish U-20 team in 1986.

Snow lay heavily on the mountain-tops that surrounded the City and there was a depressing grey hue to the area in contrast to the sunny morning haze they had left behind in Dublin five hours earlier.

The Irish had in their possession an extraordinary circular issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs on the advice of consulate here. It advised the travelling party to be extremely careful during their four-day stay in the crime-ravaged and poverty-stricken Georgian capital, especially as it was not unusual for the local citizens to carry guns.

The statement read: "Georgians have a highly developed sense of their own dignity and can react strongly if offended.

"This, combined with the prevalence of firearms in Georgia, means that a football supporter who, for example, removes his shirt in a bar can expect to be the cause of a fight, and a person who exposes himself any further runs the risk of being shot.

"Persistent unwelcome attention to Georgian women may cause nearby men, even if they have no connection with the women involved, to intervene and protect them."

The sense of poverty and deprivation was heightened on the 30 minute journey from the airport to the luxurious Sheraton Metechi Palace Hotel. The Tbilsi skyline was dominated by a continuous sequence of dilapidated high-rise apartments, their obvious state of disrepair heightened by lines of dirty washing on the balconies.

At regular intervals along the muddy roadside were temporary trade stalls offering soft drinks, cigarettes and items you would expect to find in the corner-store at home.

Little wonder that the concierge in the hotel urged the Irish to dine in that night, suggesting as discreetly as he could that there were locals who might resent the apparently wealthy visitors and their comfortable base in an American-owned hotel.

Ireland's U21 team will play Georgia today in their Championship and the senior team will train afterwards.