RTE's Head of Sport defends decision not to show Shkupi v Shamrock Rovers as fans hit out

Many Irish football fans feared not being able to watch Shamrock Rovers' crucial Europa League third qualifying round clash with KF Shkupi tonight before a late stream was secured by LOITV.

After winning the first leg 3-1 in Tallaght last week, the Hoops are just one game away from securing European group stage football - something that has only been achieved by League of Ireland clubs on three previous occasions.

Victory for Stephen Bradley's side in North Macedonia would see them advance to the Europa League play-off round to face Qarabag of Azerbaijan or Hungary’s Ferencvaros.

READ MORE: Frustration over Shkupi v Shamrock Rovers stream as one of the biggest club nights in Irish football could go unseen

And even if they were to lose at that stage, Rovers would drop into the group stage of the Conference League.

But the massive match is not being shown on TV in Ireland, something that had angered many League of Ireland fans before a late stream was confirmed this afternoon.

LOITV will show the match live for a cost of €10.

However, RTE's Head of Sport Declan McBennett defended the decision not to show the game by stating that RTE have opted to broadcast St Patrick's Conference League clash with CSKA Sofia on Thursday evening instead.

The second leg of the Conference League clash will be shown live from Tallaght Stadium on the RTE News channel, the RTE News app and the RTE Player.

The Saints recorded a famous 1-0 victory in the Bulgarian capital last week and will face either FC Basel or Brondby in the Conference League play-off round if they advance.

Explaining the decision on Twitter, McBennett said: "Yes as stated extensively previously. We prioritise the Champions when they are in the CL. When they get knocked out we look at all options. When Cork were knocked out , we did Dundalk, when Dundalk were knocked out we did Rovers, when Rovers went out we did Pats."

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