Ireland v Yugoslavia

Sir, - Following the calls from many respected commentators for the FAI not to fulfil the fixture against Yugoslavia, I would…

Sir, - Following the calls from many respected commentators for the FAI not to fulfil the fixture against Yugoslavia, I would like to ask who shall decide what nations Ireland cannot compete against due to moral principles. I and many others find the actions of NATO in the Balkans morally wrong. Does that mean we should not compete against the 19 member states of NATO?

Ireland is due to take part in the World Athletics Championships later this summer. From the high moral ground so eagerly sought by Tom Humphries among others, should I presume we will not be competing? After all, China, Turkey, Israel and 40 or 50 other countries with appalling human rights records on a par with, if not worse than, Yugoslavia will attend. And as we have been told constantly over the past week, "politics and sport do mix." If we start now, when do we stop? - Yours, etc., John J. Carroll,

Ratoath, Co Meath.