ROI to delay McCarthy decision

Mick McCarthy’s future as Republic of Ireland manager won’t be decided until after the European Championship play-offs

Niall Quinn says any decision over the future of Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy will not be made until their European Championships playoff has been decided.

The Football Association of Ireland’s interim deputy chief executive reacted after UEFA confirmed on Tuesday that Euro 2020 had been moved back to the summer of 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Republic of Ireland were due to face Slovakia later this month in a Euro 2020 play-off semi-final, with the winner to play either Northern Ireland or Bosnia for a place in the summer tournament.

Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy during the International Friendly against New Zealand at the Aviva Stadium

McCarthy had been set to leave his post in July and be replaced by U21 manager Stephen Kenny, but that could now be delayed, if Ireland were to win the playoff, which has been pencilled in for early June.

“I don’t think there is any point in trying to do something about that now,” Quinn told FAI TV.

“We are still in the position where we don’t know if we’re going to the Euros or not. We will know on June the 10th and June the 10th will be a good time to start worrying or overly worrying about that particular instance.

“We will do that at the right time and speak to the stakeholders first and won’t be talking publicly about that until the right time.”

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