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04th Jun 2016

FAI under fire for the scheduling of Celtic vs Inter Milan at Thomond Park

Limerick fans aren't happy

Evan Fanning

With 12 wins from 12 in the SSE Airtricity Division One, Limerick FC are one of the stories of the year as far as Irish football goes.

Martin Russell’s side’s perfect start to the 2016 season means it would take a collapse of Devon Loch proportions to prevent them from gaining promotion to the top flight next season.

But fans of the club are angry as it looks likely that a friendly between Celtic and Inter Milan is set to be announced for Thomond Park on Saturday August 13.

The Limerick Leader report that the fixture – part of the International Champions Cup that is taking place across Europe, Australia and China this summer – will be confirmed this week and will be the second chance Irish-based Celtic fans get to see Brendan Rodgers’ side on home soil this summer. They also play Barcelona at the Aviva on July 30.

The only trouble is that the match at Thomond – a repeat of the 1967 European Cup final – clashes with Limerick FC’s league fixture against Cabinteely.

This has angered a number of Limerick fans – who point out that the FAI blocked their attempts to host Barcelona in 2010.

At the time the FAI wrote that one of the reasons they blocked what would have been a lucrative fixture for Limerick, was because the “sole objective of the FAI is to develop, promote and foster the game in Ireland”.

Now it seems that what may well be an important game for Limerick will be overshadowed or moved to accommodate a pre-season friendly between two international clubs.

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