St Pat's players refuse to play in Europa League tie

St Pat's players have said they will not play in tonight's second leg Europa league qualifier against Karpaty Lviv amid a continuing row with the club over bonuses.

The players this lunchtime released a statement through the Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland (PFAI) in which they expressed "regret" that they "would not be participating in the fixture this evening".

"This is a unanimous decision of all the players and has not been reached lightly," the statement said.

The move follows failure to agree bonus payments and compensation for the part-time players for their participation in the European campaign. Players had also imposed a media blackout in the run-up to the second leg fixture.

Talks aimed at resolving the dispute took place last night but the players said that an offer submitted by club owners this morning does not meet their minimum requirements.

"The club will receive many multiples of the amounts we are seeking in prize money so payment to us would still leave the club in profit following our European campaign," the players' statement said.

"However, we have made it very clear to the board that our very modest requests would have to be agreed prior to tonight’s match; this issue has been ongoing for the past month.

"We realise this is a devastating blow for the fans and the league. It is equally so for us as players but we cannot continue to be treated with disrespect by the club," the statement concluded.

Pats were heading into the tie at Tallaght tonight with a two-goal deficit from the first leg in Ukraine.