European Cup: The clash between God and mammon may provide a defining moment for Ulster rugby next year as the province face into one of their most difficult European Cup pool matches against Leicester Tigers on January 11th.

Following the release of Sky Sports' schedule for broadcasting live games in the competition, Ulster, for the first time, have been told to play their home game at Ravenhill Road on a Sunday.

The news is not being received well in the province, but yesterday chief executive Michael Reid posted an open letter on the Ulster Rugby website urging supporters to accept the inevitable, if malign, influences of 21st century sport.

In essence, Ulster must fulfil their fixture against the English team on the Sunday or remove themselves from the European Cup, which they won in 1999, the only Irish team to do so.

That the kick-off for the match is set at 1 p.m. may only exacerbate the issue, given church service times.

But the main issue, of playing a match that would normally attract a capacity 12,500 crowd in south Belfast on the Christian sabbath, and in close proximity to one of Rev Ian Paisley's Free Presbyterian churches, is not being taken lightly by the Ulster Branch. A Baptist hall and a Church of Ireland church also back onto the grounds.

"The recent news that the Ulster v Leicester Heineken Cup fixture is to be played on a Sunday has caused a huge amount of personal upset and distress amongst people, within Ulster Rugby, the wider Ulster rugby community and indeed Ulster in general," Reid writes on the website (www.ulsterrugby.com).

"Unfortunately, the professional sport that we play is very dependent on the incomes derived from both sponsorship and television, and indeed European Rugby Cup is lucky to have a broadcaster of the size and profile of Sky being involved.

"It is unfortunate that, in what is only our second home game with Sky, we now have to play a game not only on Sunday, but at 1 p.m., which will clash directly with church services and Sunday schools within a few hundred yards of the ground.

"It is not the policy of Ulster Rugby to play on Sundays, and indeed in my memory that has never happened, but unfortunately the commercial realities leave me with two choices: (1) we withdraw from the European Cup, or (2) we go ahead and fulfil the fixture and make every effort possible to ensure that disruption is kept to the bare minimum and try to work with our partners around the ground and with the churches in the area."

Given the financial stresses on professional rugby in all four provinces, Ulster's position is particularly unfortunate. Sky Sports came on board this season with their money and cameras, to significant brouhaha, after winning the exclusive rights to broadcast rugby union's premier club tournament. A three-year deal with ERC gives Sky Sports live coverage of the European Cup through the 2005/06 season. They will screen matches on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, with Ulster's game against Leicester generating significant cross-over interest in Ireland and Britain as the Tigers are one of the England's most successful and heavily supported teams.

No Ulster player has yet pulled out of the game, though all the normal pre-match entertainment has been cancelled in deference to the Sunday worshippers. In addition, schools and clubs in the district have been asked to co-operate in a park-and-ride system to and from the ground.

"I think it is important that people understand that the money that is brought into the tournament by the likes of Sky is hugely important to keep our professional sport vibrant," Reid's letter continues, "and as you will see with the likes of Gwent Dragons going into administration, rugby football is a sport generally that is not awash with money, the players are not paid huge salaries and it is important that we do all that we can to generate money to keep the game alive within Northern Ireland.

"Over the next, short period of time we will meet with the local churches on our footprint, with community leaders and the police, and while I accept fully there will be dissatisfaction and upset, all I believe we can do at this stage is ensure that disruption is kept to a minimum."

Ulster have another match scheduled for Ravenhill, against Gwent Dragons at the end of January. No date has been fixed, but Ulster have requested to play it on the normal Friday night slot and have not yet heard back from the ERC or Sky.

Meanwhile, details of the Celtic Cup final between Ulster and Edinburgh have been decided. The match will take place on Saturday, December 20th, at Murrayfield. The kick-off is at 2.30 p.m.