Limerick and Barcelona ratchet up the pressure on FAI in bid to revive clash

LIMERICK, both club and city, are continuing to pile on the pressure in a bid to get the FAI to sanction the proposed friendly game against Barcelona at Thomond Park on July 31.

It’s understood that an agreed statement between the two clubs will be released today, in which Barca will say that they are not currently negotiating with the FAI a proposed friendly in the new Aviva Stadium in 2011, rather that they are concentrating on the Thomond Park game against Limerick. Both clubs will reiterate that pending sanction from the FAI, they want the game to go ahead.

On Thursday night, the FAI issued a statement in which they said that Limerick FC had been informed that permission for the game could not be given for three reasons: third-party commercial agreements already entered into by the FAI, their own negotiations to bring Barcelona to Dublin and clashes with Airtricity League fixtures.