THE Irish Football Association has decided that the flashpoint game at the Solitude bound in north Belfast between the home side, Cliftonville, and Glentoran should go ahead today, but at 11 a.m., rather than in the afternoon.
An emergency meeting of the association took the decision to hold the game four hours ahead of the normal kick off time after hearing RUC advice. There will also be special policing arrangements for Glentoran fans going to the game from east Belfast.
Trouble flared on Wednesday night in east Belfast when Cliftonville fans were blocked by loyalists from attending a game against Crusaders. It triggered clashes in which three policemen were injured, a petrol bomb was thrown and three plastic baton rounds were fired to disperse crowds.
The trouble led to fears of further violence when Protestant supporters of Glentoran today visit the ground of Cliftonville, which has a mainly Catholic support.
Mr Morton McKnight of the IFA said Cliftonville had made a pledge that the rival Glentoran fans would be "welcomed with open arms" at Solitude today.
"I have been assured that the Glentoran supporters will be surprised at the reception they receive: they will be received with open arms. And I think all sorts of pleasantries will be exchanged, and I am looking forward to it," he added.
Mr Jim Boyce, chairman of Cliftonville, hoped that "football will be the winner" today. "I am quite certain that the Cliftonville and the Glentoran supporters will make sure that football is the winner."
Mr Boyce added that his supporters were prevented from attending Wednesday night's game as a direct result of the tension created during the marching season. Political and community leaders must work to "keep politics out of sport", he said.
