The organisers of this month's IAAF World Cross Country championships in Dublin said today they would decide next week whether to cancel the event following the foot-and-mouth disease epidemic in Britain.
Head of the local organising committee Christy Wall said his body faced a dilemma over whether or not to scrap the March 24th-25th championships.
"We will make an announcement on Monday as to whether they go ahead or not," he said. "We have to weigh up two concerns in that on the one hand we don't want to be responsible for bringing the disease into Ireland and on the other we don't want to upset athletes from all over the world.
"It is a delicate balancing act," he added.
The championships, which are to be held at Dublin’s Leopardstown Racecourse, take place on the same weekend as the Ireland-England Six Nations clash in Dublin which is already in doubt.
Yesterday, John Treacy, chairman of the Irish Sports Council, said the case of foot and mouth discovered in County Armagh in Northern Ireland had complicated the picture.
"The suspected case in Armagh has raised the ante," said Treacy. "There is a concern about it [the championships] going ahead. "The problem is the spectators who will be coming from all over the country and from abroad," he added.
A site in Portugal has been suggested as a possible alternative. AFP