France fixture under threat

France’s Euro 2008 Group B qualifier against the Faroe Islands scheduled for this afternoon appears to be in jeopardy due to ongoing bad weather.

The France team’s plane was unable to land in Torshavn on Friday night because of dense fog and freezing rain, and as of 10am Irish time on Saturday the team had still not landed on the Atlantic island.

The plane left Paris at midday on Friday, stopping off at Aberdeen in Scotland en route to the Faroes, but the adverse weather forced the pilots to re-route to Bergen in Norway.

Even if the plane were to land in the next few hours, UEFA rules stipulate that visiting international teams must arrive in the host nation 24 hours before kick-off – in this case 4pm Irish time.

The game now appears likely to be postponed until Sunday.

That would be bad news for the French, who need maximum recovery time ahead of Wednesday’s crucial qualifier against Lithuania.

France are third in Group B, one point adrift of Italy and two behind leaders Scotland.