Blow to FAI aligned calendar plan as leagues offered ‘exemptions'
However, there was opposition from a number of leagues across the game and following representations to the FAI board, they can now continue to implement their own calendar year.
The schoolboys/schoolgirls FAI and the Leinster FA were among those most opposed to a move to so-called summer football but other leagues had also expressed their reluctance to change. And in what will be seen as a major victory for the sceptics and an embarrassment for the FAI, leagues will be allowed to back out, though criteria for exemptions have not yet been outlined.
'The Board of the Football Association of Ireland has decided to implement an exemption process by application for leagues with regard to our Aligned Football Calendar,' said an email issued by the FAI to General Assembly delegates today.
'The terms of reference of the exemption process will be agreed by the Board and communicated with members of the General Assembly in due course.
'The Football Pathways Plan continues to be implemented as part of the on-going development and future of Irish football whilst also respecting the implementation challenges that leagues may encounter in relation to the Aligned Football Calendar.'
Canham has since left his post with the FAI who are still in the process of hiring a long-term replacement, with Shane Robinson standing in in the interim.
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