Plans by the Northern Ireland soccer authority to permit Sunday matches have been criticised as a threat to the Lord's Day by a prominent church figure.
The Irish Football Association voted at Wednesday night's egm to overturn the decades-old ban on Sunday games by a substantial 91-14 vote margin.
Meeting in Belfast, the association also voted in favour of lifting the ban last year, but the majority in favour did not reach the required 75 per cent majority.
The Northern soccer authority has until now been the last association in Europe to have retained a ban on Sunday matches.
However, the decision was criticised by the president of the Methodist Church in Ireland. The Rev Roy Cooper said yesterday: "I do not wish to be legalistic over Sunday. I fully recognise there are differences within the Christian tradition over how it is observed.
"However, it is for Christians the Lord's Day was set aside for worship, rest and the family. The introduction of football, as with other sports, will put pressure on players and staff with objections to conform or otherwise to be left out in the long- term."
His statement added that there was "a regrettable trend in society to set the church aside, even to the extent of encouraging the loss of its influence, particularly over young people, on the most appropriate day of the week".
However, the IFA executive's satisfaction at seeing the ban finally overturned was tempered by the loss of a vote that could cost it millions in lost government support.
The IFA is in line to receive some £4.2 million out of an £8 million grant to develop the game.
However, this was on the understanding that the IFA's executive would be streamlined from the current 18-member panel to just 10 members.
The egm that lifted the Sunday ban also rejected this move, thus putting future funding arrangements involving the Stormont Department of Culture Arts and Leisure in doubt.
IFA chief executive Howard Wells said: "There is £4.2 million of government money still not released and we will now have to go back to them [ the department] and persuade them to continue their support while we address this crucial area again."