FAI demands Slovaks host Irish in Bratislava

THE Football Association of Ireland are awaiting responses from letters they have written to both UEFA and the Slovakian Football Association (SFZ) demanding that Bratislava be instated as the venue for Ireland’s European Championship qualifier on October 12.

The FAI action follows the announcement yesterday that the Slovaks want to switch the game to Zilina, 125 miles from the capital.

National associations have up until six weeks before a fixture to nominate the venue for the game, so the Slovakians are well within that timeframe, but the FAI are pinning their hopes on the fact that, as recently as July 28, the SFZ formally notified their counterparts in Dublin that the game would be played in Bratislava.