Uefa’s Nations League to leave FAI out in cold

The FAI’s scope to bring leading nations to Ireland for lucrative friendlies from 2018 is set to be reduced if, as expected, the new ‘Uefa Nations League’ is ratified today.

Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino yesterday confirmed that details of a new initiative — effectively a third major international tournament — will be announced today at the association’s congress in Kazakhstan.

Designed with the intention of putting to better use dates across the international calendar traditionally reserved for friendlies, the ‘Uefa Nations League’ will inject a competitive element by dividing nations into tiers depending on their seeding.