The Football Association of Ireland welcomes the new measures announced by An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Ministers Shane Ross and Brendan Griffin today, as we continue to work on a safer return for all football under the jurisdiction of the FAI, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

These guidelines will come into effect on Monday, June 8th, and will have a positive impact on the plans for the SSE Airtricity League, the Women’s National League, adult amateur and underage football and all other affiliates.

• The FAI welcomes the green light from Government for our four European qualified SSE Airtricity League teams – Dundalk, Shamrock Rovers, Derry City and Bohemian FC – to resume collective training on Monday, June 8th
• The FAI are working on a return to training protocol for the other SSE Airtricity League clubs and Women’s National League clubs, based on the new Government guidelines for group training for sports teams involving up to 15 people
• The FAI’s Steering Group are meeting on Saturday morning to draw up protocols for the return to training for adult amateur and underage football under the new Government guidelines and will issue its recommendations as soon as feasible
• To facilitate this vital planning process, and to support clubs with time to put in place the necessary health and safety protocols, no resumption of training under the new Government guidelines is permitted before Monday, June 15^th, other than for the four European qualified clubs from the SSE Airtricity League
• The FAI’s Steering Group will examine how these new Government guidelines affect all affiliates
• The FAI welcomes expressions of interest for registration for our INTERSPORT Elverys Summer Soccer Schools at bit.ly/20faisss
• The FAI’s Steering Group will now review the cessation of football directive which currently runs until July 20^th

Welcoming the Government announcements, FAI Interim CEO Gary Owens said: “The new measures announced today by An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Ministers Shane Ross and Brendan Griffin, are most welcome and positive for football and for all sport in Ireland.

“We thank the Taoiseach, the Ministers and all the staff at the various Government agencies who have worked so hard to get us to this point. Those agencies have offered us great assistance as we move towards a safer return for football for all our players, coaches, match officials, administrators and club volunteers.

“We still have a long road to travel in the battle against COVID-19 but sport has a huge rule to play in Ireland’s recovery and these new guidelines will help get us back on the playing field as soon as it is safe for all our stakeholders.

“We again thank all those working on the frontline for their dedication in the fight against COVID-19 and for their contribution in getting us to a point where we can plan for live sport again.”