The Football Association of Ireland has ordered an independent review into the circumstances surrounding Athlone Town’s failure to fulfil a fixture against Waterford last Friday.
The FAI were informed on the afternoon of the First Division clash that Athlone did not have enough players to play the game.
The decision was condemned at the time by League Director Fran Gavin, who said: “We take this matter extremely seriously and will be charging Athlone for failing to fulfil the fixture and for bringing the game into disrepute.
"This is totally unacceptable. To be notified on the afternoon of an SSE Airtricity League fixture that a club cannot field a team is simply not good enough.”
Gavin, League Chairman Eamon Naughton and representatives of the club met over the weekend and the FAI decided to order the investigation.
A statement read: “The Football Association of Ireland has ordered an independent interim review of Athlone Town FC after a meeting between SSE Airticity League Director Fran Gavin, League Chairman Eamon Naughton and representatives of the club, after its failure to fulfil their fixture versus Waterford United on June 3.
“The Board of the Football Association of Ireland will appoint an Independent person to meet with all of the relevant stakeholders of Athlone Town FC, including the Chairman, Board members, Management and Players, as well as supporters groups and potential investors, to discuss recent issues and the long-term future of the club.
“Once the independent interim review is complete, the findings will be presented to the FAI."
