The Unite the Union ‘Challenge Cup’ is in turmoil with both Shamrock Rovers and St Pat’s unsure if it will go ahead.
Hoops boss Stephen Bradley claims the League of Ireland champions have not been told when exactly the semi-final clash between the teams will be played.
And he insists his players are on their holidays as soon as they get handed the league trophy in Tallaght Stadium tonight.
Rovers are due to play St Pat’s in one semi-final of the new cross-border competition and Irish League clubs Linfield meet Coleraine in the other.
Mirror Sport reported last week that the southern semi-final was provisionally pencilled in for Wednesday, December 1 and the Aviva Stadium final on December 4.
Quizzed on whether those games have since been confirmed, Bradley said: “We’ve heard nothing regarding any game.”
Asked what will happen if a semi-final date is settled on in the coming days, Bradley added: “We’ll obviously fulfil the game but it’s going to have to be young players.
“We’ve no problem putting a team out because we’ve a lot of good players at the club, but our last game is (tonight) and we’ve heard zero regarding anything.
“We have to plan for what we know is definite, which is the league starting back next year. We can’t plan for anything other than that. We’ve genuinely heard nothing.”
When the ‘Challenge Cup’ was launched last month, it emerged that Rovers would field an U19s team if the games were not moved to January as pre-season fixtures.
St Pat’s also intend fielding youngsters as they have no intention of playing another first-team game before or after their FAI Cup final on Sunday week.
The 2022 league season is starting earlier on February 11 and the off-season begins tonight for Rovers and on Sunday week for St Pat’s.
Under-19 players from both clubs have remained in training for that reason, despite their underage seasons having already concluded.
In a statement, the FAI said "We are in discussions with Unite the Union and the IFA around the Unite The Union Cup and the changing COVID-19 situation and will update you when we have further information."
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