Soccer

St Pat’s game against Shelbourne postponed as Saints stranded in Bulgaria

Match in Tolka Park was scheduled to be played on Sunday

St. Patrick's Athletic’s Serge Atakayi celebrates scoring the late goal to win the game in Sofia. Photograph: Anton Uzunov/Inpho
St. Patrick's Athletic’s Serge Atakayi celebrates scoring the late goal to win the game in Sofia. Photograph: Anton Uzunov/Inpho
Sat Aug 06 2022 - 12:46

The SSE Airtricity Premier Division game between St Patrick’s Athletic and Shelbourne on Sunday, August 7th has been postponed as St Pat’s are stranded in Bulgaria after their victory over CSKA Sofia in the Europa Conference League qualifier on Thursday night.

St Pat’s are not due to return to Ireland until Sunday morning and the game at Tolka Park will not go ahead as scheduled. The FAI have said they will review the matter internally.

St Pat’s said on Twitter they appreciated the FAI’s understanding of the predicament that they found themselves in and their sensible decision to call off tomorrow’s fixture.

“Under UEFA regulations, the use of charters is mandatory from the third qualifying round on. Because of the current difficulties in the aviation industry, which are well known, we and our travel brokers have had immense difficulty sourcing charters, the result of which has left the players and staff in Sofia and not in a position to return to Dublin until the early hours of Sunday morning,” St Pat’s said in the statement.

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“Throughout the week we appraised the FAI & UEFA of our predicament and were grateful for their assistance. We understand many fans would have been looking forward to the game, we regret that this fixture is not going ahead as scheduled due to these unprecedented circumstances.”