Euro 2020 playoff semi-finals and finals are likely to be spaced out over a number of weeks - if not months.
Ireland were due to play Slovakia on March 26 with the winner facing either Northern Ireland or Bosnia just five days later.
But a significantly longer gap between the semi-final and final is anticipated when the games are eventually played later this year.
With the tournament delayed until 2021, the playoffs were kicked back to June 4 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This week they were postponed for a second time and UEFA have yet to fix a date.
Dates between September and November are expected, but Mirror Sport understands the matches will no longer be staged just days apart.
As it stands, the Nations League campaign will be played over three double-headers in September, October and November.
Tweaks to that schedule could yet be made as UEFA chiefs explore how to shoehorn in the Euro playoff dates.
The original quick-fire nature of the semi-final and final was a logistical nightmare for the 16 competing teams and, more so, their supporters.
Had Ireland won in Slovakia, the team was due back in Dubin for two days of training before departing for Bosnia or Northern Ireland.
But fans would have been scrambling to make eleventh hour travel and accommodation plans for either destination.
With the finals not taking place until 2021, UEFA are not under as much pressure to play the games back-to-back.
And some competing nations have expressed a wish to arrange money-spinning friendlies immediately after the playoff semi-final, depending on UEFA’s scheduling fix.
The FAI is in a bind over who will manage the team against Slovakia as Stephen Kenny is due to succeed Mick McCarthy on August 1.
McCarthy wants to see out the Euros mission and a compromise is being looked at with the FAI board expected to meet over conference calls early next week.
