Play-off fate to be decided at noon

THE European championship play-off draw will take place in the Sheraton Hotel, Krakow, Poland at noon (Irish time) today, with chief executive John Delaney heading up the FAI delegation in attendance.

Manager Giovanni Trapattoni will be keeping tabs from his home in Milan.

The draw ceremony will be conducted by UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino.

Also in attendance will be the legendary Polish striker Zbigniew Boniek, who is one of the ambassadors for the finals tournament.

The draw will be transmitted live on Uefa.com and Eurosport. It can also be followed on RTE.ie/sport.

Alongside Ireland in Pot One will be fellow seeds Croatia, Portugal and the Czech Republic. Pot 2, from which Ireland’s non-seeded opponents will be drawn, will contain Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Estonia.

Ironically, given that the Irish are now seeds, the order of home and away fixtures will also be down to the luck of the draw, after lobbying by the FAI — in the wake of Ireland’s World Cup play-off heartbreak in Paris — prompted UEFA to abandon the idea of guaranteeing home advantage in the second leg to top seeds.

“It was me who complained,” said Trapattoni yesterday.

“Now they have corrected the rules. Now it’s not the seeded team at home in the second leg. Obviously, now, it’s up to us,” he added.

Already having booked their passage to the finals alongside the co-hosts Poland and Ukraine, are the holders Spain, Germany, Russia, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Greece, England, Denmark, along with the best runners-up Sweden.

The finals draw is on December 2 in Kiev and the tournament runs from June 8 until July 1 next year.