Players Pull Plug On Europa League Tie

In a devastating blow for  St Patricks Athletic and Irish football itself,the PFAI (Players football association of Ireland) have confirmed that the players of St Patricks Athletic have pulled the plug on their Europa League second leg third round qualifier with Karpaty due to take place in the Tallaght Stadium tonight.

Pete Mahon was alone at the press conference last night

Sportspeak understands this issue is in relation to a written proposal  by the players concerning loss of earnings and European bonuses on Monday 25 July 2011. Following on from that, on Tuesday of this week (Aug 2nd) the players confirmed through the PFAI that they had not recieved a satisfactory response from the board of the club.  They players said that despite numerous requests the club refused to get into meaningful discussions with them and their representitives the PFAI.

They players also went on to say that their efforts in the Europa League over the last six weeks or so had not been properly recognised by the club based on their status as part-time players. They also said on Tuesday that they would refuse to participate in media activities on the night of the match and would also take any further steps they deem necessary to ensure their efforts were recognised.

Today the players said that it had recieved a fax from the owners of St Patricks Athletic and said it was the exact same offer the players rejected last night at a meeting with the club, the players say” having discussed it at length, we are unanimous that the offer does not meet our minimum requirements”

They claim that the club will receive many multiples of the amounts we are seeking in prize money so payment to us would still leave the club in profit following our European campaign.

The players then went onto confirm that they were pulling out of the tie, “It is, therefore, with huge regret that we must inform you that we will not be participating in the fixture this evening. This is a unanimous decision of all the players and has not been reached lightly”

“We realise this is a devastating blow for the fans and the league. It is equally so for us as players but we cannot continue to be treated with disrespect by the club”

This news comes on the back of an already disapointing weekend for the League of Ireland with the Airtricity XI losing out heavily against Manchester City and Celtic, they players will feel this was the right decision for them but its more bad PR for the league and no doubt the consequences from UEFA will be huge.

Daniel "Pitchside" Pitcher Twitter: @DanFM104Sport About: Dan "Pitchside" Pitcher provides insight and commentary as the chief soccer and rugby correspondent for Sportspeak.