INTERNATIONAL football is set to return to its traditional roots with UEFA's recommendation that, in so far as is possible, qualifying games in the European section of the World Cup should be played at weekends.

Under the list of dates proposed by UEFA, the opening series of games for the new season will take place on either Saturday, August 31st, or the following day.

The weekend ending October 6th is the recommended date for the following month and the November fixtures are scheduled for either Saturday 9th or Sunday the 10th. National associations are not obliged to act on these recommendations but those opting out will not be guaranteed the release of players under UEFA legislation.

Traditionally, international games were played on Sundays in most European countries - Saturday was the recognised day in Britain - but the trend changed in the 1960s when, with an increasing move towards floodlit football, it became fashionable to stage fixtures in midweek.

The decision of the European body to reappraise the merits of weekend internationals is indicative of the growing problems of accommodating both international and club football in a fixtures list which has expanded at a bewildering rate over the last 15 years.

Because of the vast sums of money changing hands in transfer fees and wages, clubs are now obliged to play more often to balance their books at the end of the season. Moreover, since the introduction of the European Champions League, attractive midweek dates are now at a premium.

The rapid growth of international football in Europe derives primarily from the disintegration of the old Eastern European political ideologies and the fragmentation of entities like the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. That is best measured in the fact that whereas the European championship was confined to just 33 countries as recently as eight years ago, the figure for preliminary rounds of the current championship stood at 49.

The move to weekend international football would be welcomed by employers among others. With the spectacular success enjoyed by the national team in recent times, midweek fixtures have frequently taken on a Mardi Gras dimension as supporters travelled to Dublin from all parts of the country with a consequent loss to industry and farming.

The other side of the coin is that it could occasion problems for those involved in marketing, other sports, notably Gaelic games. If the FAI agrees to take up the September 1st date, for example, it would mean a clash with the All-Ireland hurling final at Croke Park.

The current thinking at Merrion Square is that Ireland should play in Liechtenstein on that date and while All-Ireland finals are automatic sell-outs, it could raise problems, for example, in television coverage.

"It's an added problem over which we have no control," admitted the FAI's chief executive, Sean Connolly. "It remains to be seen how the public reacts to weekend games but if the team is playing well and the opposition is sufficiently attractive, it should make little material difference.

"In recent years, we have played our home games in June on Sunday afternoons without any loss of revenue and I would expect that situation will continue."

As one of the countries involved in a six-nation group, the Republic of Ireland may be required to play two back-to-back fixtures in October, with one game at the weekend and the other the following Tuesday or Wednesday. These are almost certain to be staged at Lansdowne Road with Lithuania and the top seeded Romanian team likely to provide the opposition.

With a replacement for Jack Charlton as national team manager not likely to be in place until the third week in February, the task of arranging the Irish programme will now be undertaken by FAI officials in Liechtenstein on January 23rd.

In this, there is another return to old routines, for the task was always undertaken by the association's officers until the national team manager was invited to sit in on the meetings in the early 1980s.