Non-elite soccer fixtures suspended

THE IFA has this morning announced that all football training and matches below elite level will be suspended as of 6pm tomorrow (Friday, October 16th) due to further Covid-19 restrictions imposed by the Northern Ireland Executive.

Elite level is categorised in Northern Ireland as matches in the men and women’s NIFL Premiership as well as international matches involving Northern Ireland representative teams and will be the only games allowed to take place during this period. 

That means Saturday’s FonaCab Irish Junior Cup fixtures, along with scheduled Fermanagh and Western, Northern Ireland Intermediate League, Ballymena and Provincial League and Mid Ulster League, including their associated cup matches, will now not take place.

Irish FA Foundation programmes, including Electric Ireland Shooting Stars and McDonald’s Fun Football, will be postponed for the next four weeks whilst unfortunately the Irwin’s Nutty Krust Halloween Football Camps are now cancelled. Protocols laid out in the Irish FA’s ‘A Return to the Everyday Game’ document will be suspended and will not be applicable to grassroots football, both training and matches, during this period.

Irish FA Chief Executive Officer, Patrick Nelson, said: “We note the decision from the Northern Ireland Executive. 

“Our priority is, and has always been, the return of football, both training and matches, in a safe and responsible manner and  we will continue to work with stakeholders across the game to meet that objective.”