Members of the FAI's executive committee are today expected to re-examine the controversial decision to reject an application for a joint testimonial for Ray Houghton and John Aldridge at Lansdowne Road in May.

It will be the first meeting of the committee since the association's officer board provoked a major controversy by refusing to sanction the fixture, proposed by the promoting club Dalkey United.

It was the first such rejection since the scheme, which has lined the pockets of some of Ireland's best known players, was introduced almost 20 years ago.

In turning down the original application, FAI chief executive Bernard O'Byrne said it had been received too late to enable an additional fixture to be included in a crowded end-of-season programme.

Additionally, he said that neither claimant met the minimum requirement of 75 international appearances, a little known local rule which, he said, was introduced after the World Cup finals in the United States in 1994.

Both reasons for rejection are contested by the promoting club who contend that they forwarded the application well in advance of the publication of Ireland's 1999 fixtures list.

They say that clubs were unaware of the amendment of the rule, raising the minimum number of caps for applicants from 50 to 75, and in support point to the fact that Chris Hughton and Mick McCarthy were awarded testimonials in recent years even though they played fewer games for Ireland than Houghton (73) and Aldridge (69).

It is also contended that both players were entitled to a testimonial game before the rule was amended and justice demands that it now be applied retrospectively.

The executive committee was not consulted before the original decision was made and while there is no guarantee that it will be overturned, some members are known to be unhappy about the situation.

Almost certainly the days when senior international players could expect huge pay-days - Paul McGrath is thought to have grossed more than £500,000 from his testimonial game last May - are numbered.

The consensus is that players are now sufficiently well paid to provide for their retirement and that the scheme has deviated a long way from the original concept of helping those who had fallen on lean times.

For that reason testimonial games in their present format will not survive much longer. Yet the circumstances of this particular case are such that the officers may have some difficulty in justifying their action.

Both Houghton and Aldridge, players with outstanding records in international football, are careful to distance themselves from the controversy. Their fellow professionals are more vocal in their criticism, however, claiming that it amounted to a public snub for both men. Whether that support will translate into a volte face by the FAI is debatable but the certainty is that it will add spice to today's deliberations.

Arsenal captain Tony Adams will make his comeback in the reserve game away to Northampton on Monday.