FIFA officials are expected to meet next Wednesday to discuss a possible amnesty for those threatened with suspension for the World Cup play-offs.

A FIFA spokesperson said that the matter was on their agenda but declined to speculate on the outcome. The matter is of crucial importance to the Republic of Ireland who have 10 players on yellow cards going into their final qualifying game against Romania at Lansdowne Road on October 11th.

Another booking in that game would automatically exclude them from the play-offs.

It is understood that the FAI are just one of several national organisations seeking to have an amnesty declared, on the basis that all countries involved would be unfairly penalised if the normal rules obtain, in what they regard as a special one-off situation.

A decision on the FAI's application to switch the date of a possible November 15th home game is also expected early in the week. Lansdowne Road will be unavailable because of the visit of New Zealand's rugby team. The question of FIFA waiving their ban on standing spectators for competitive international fixtures has not been raised by the FAI to date.