The FAI are reported to have pulled the plug on Celtic’s plans to have played Derry City on Saturday.
Dundalk had been lined up for a home friendly match but as the travel embargo continued an alternative plan with Derry City, with their unique border location, on stand-by for a visit to Celtic Park.
Yesterday the Irish Government excluded the UK, including Scotland, from its Green List of travel countries. Celtic’s Plan B was quickly scuppered as the Daily Record reports:
Derry then received a warning from the FAI that, by accepting a glamour friendly in Glasgow, their players and coaching staff would be unable to compete in a top flight clash against St Pats in Dublin on August 3.
The decisions leave Celtic idle on Saturday although they do have a match against Motherwell scheduled for Sunday.
That match will now take priority with Neil Lennon likely to play his first XI rather than use the Sunday game to get game time into all of his players.
With only Premiership clubs playing in Scotland and the EPL and Championship seasons finishing up in England the only other option open to get a game on Saturday would be to find a French club willing to travel at short notice.
