On a day when the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) appear set to determine Steve Staunton's future, there was some positives with news that the new Lansdowne Road Stadium was short-listed by Uefa to host the 2011 Uefa Cup final.
The new stadium, which is currently under construction and due for completion in 2009, was selected as a possible host venue on the basis of its 50,000 all-seater capacity, infrastructure, facilities and functionality. It was also selected because of the capital's "ability to provide the necessary accommodation and airport facilities".
Site visits by the Uefa inspection team will take place later this month and November. A final decision is expected to be made by the Uefa Executive Committee in Liechtenstein on March next year.
The FAI's bid is included in a shortlist of six stadiums from which the 2010 and 2011 UEFA Cup Final venues will be selected.
The other stadiums are: Arsenal Stadium (London, England); Arena AufSchalke (Gelsenkirchen, Germany); Olímpico de Montjuic (Barcelona, Spain); Arena Hamburg (Hamburg, Germany) and National (Bucharest, Romania).
