UEFA cancel Ireland men's and women's Under 19 qualifiers

Ireland’s Under 19 men’s and women’s teams have had their upcoming qualifiers cancelled after UEFA’s executive committee took the decision to call-off the 2021 Under 19 Championships due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In making their decision, the UEFA executive committee took into account government restrictions currently in place across Europe and their effect on the transportation of teams and staging of mini-tournaments.

The cancellation impacts Tom Mohan’s Republic of Ireland Under 19s and Dave Connell’s Republic of Ireland Women's Under 19s, who had been scheduled to play at the end of March and in early April respectively.

The men’s team were set to take on Estonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Poland in Longford next month, with the women's team preparing to face England, Greece and Kosovo in Greece in early April.

FAI chief executive officer Jonathan Hill said: “This is disappointing but not unexpected news for Tom Mohan, Dave Connell and their players, who have been planning and looking forward to these games for so long now. We respect the UEFA decision and we will work closely with UEFA and government now to facilitate a return for our underage international teams as soon as it is feasible.”

In a statement, UEFA said: “Although it is unfortunate that no youth competitions can take place in the current season, the health and safety of young athletes must be prioritised in the current circumstances.”

These latest cancellations follow a decision taken by UEFA last December to call off both the men’s and women’s 2021 European Under 17 Championship qualifiers. Colin O’Brien’s Under 17 men’s team were due to host three qualifiers in Ireland before the tournament was cancelled, while James Scott’s Women's Under 17 team were also in line to host Portugal, Macedonia and Wales.