John Treacy remains hopeful that the SPAR European Cross Country Championships will go ahead in Dublin on December 12 - as Olympic sensation Jakob Ingebrigtsen was confirmed for the Abbotstown date.
The new Omicron strain of Covid has added some uncertainty to air travel but Sport Ireland's outgoing chief executive is confident that the championships will not be affected.
"I haven't heard anything yet," he said. "Obviously we're dealing with European countries, there's no update but I wouldn't anticipate (a problem).
"Hopefully everything will be OK, and fingers crossed, there's a lot of very good work done in terms of the organisation of the event and we're looking forward to hosting it."
The presence of the Norwegian Ingebrigtsen, the current Olympic 1500m champion, will add further star power to the event on the Sport Ireland campus.
He will make his senior Euro Cross debut alongside his older brother, Filip, who won gold in 2018.
Jakob one his fourth gold medal in succession in the Euro Cross in the 2019 junior race. Another brother, Henrik, won the under-23 race nine years ago.
Frenchman Jimmy Gressier, who scored a hat-trick in the under-21 race between 2017 and 2019, is also competing in the senior event for the first time, while World 5000m bronze medallist Konstanze Klosterhalfen will compete after at the Sparkassen-Cross in Pforzheim last Sunday.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Sport Jack Chambers said that progress is being made in the search for Treacy's successor, although it will be into 2022 before the new CEO is chosen.
"There's a shortlisting of candidates ongoing and we expect some interviews to happen in December," said Minister Chambers.
"It will be into next year before there will be any recommendation on a replacement.
"I just want to thank John for all his public service over many years for sport."
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