Ireland could still be without some key players for next month’s World Cup warm-up against Zambia - despite an agreement on Wednesday between FIFA and the European Club Association to release players early for international duty.
The Girls in Green host Zambia on June 22 and France on July 6, before flying out to Sydney.
Initially, it was feared that clubs would hold onto their players until July 10 - the mandatory release date ahead of the World Cup, which kicks off in Australia and New Zealand 10 days later.
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Ireland boss Vera Pauw warned last week that such a scenario would place the welfare of her players at risk.
“If we were to do this, going for the ECA idea, you can put an ambulance next to the pitch for all the ACLs that will happen,” she said.
“That’s 11 weeks of no football, then 10 hours of jetlag dumping into Australia and see what you do.”
However, following talks between the ECA and FIFA, a “non-mandatory release timeframe” of June 23-29 has been agreed.
But the Zambia game takes place the evening before that kicks in, so Pauw will be at the mercy of ECA members such as Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Everton.
Up to 13 players, including captain Katie McCabe, are with ECA member clubs.
A FIFA statement confirmed the agreement with the clubs’ representative body.
“The mandatory release date for players remains on 10 July 2023, and where a player has official club matches up to that date, the club is expected to retain the player unless otherwise mutually agreed between the member association and club concerned,” it read.
“However, acknowledging that a number of clubs will conclude their domestic season before the start of the tournament, the new consensus agreement has established a non-mandatory release timeframe of 23-29 June 2023 – four weeks ahead of the tournament kick-off on 20 July 2023.
“This new framework strikes the all-important balance between players having sufficient rest while allowing adequate time to prepare for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.
“The new indicative timeframe should act as a guideline for clubs and participating member associations, with the exact dates of release to be agreed between them based on the individual circumstances of each case.
“Such efforts at mutual agreement are fully encouraged and endorsed by FIFA and ECA.”
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