THE REPUBLIC of Ireland's management team is holding its collective breath as judgment day approaches for Liverpool's colourful but errant wing back Jason McAteer. McAteer will discover the wages of his indiscretion in being sent off in injury time in Macedonia three weeks ago after FIFA's Disciplinary Committee has met in Switzerland today.

The fear in the Irish camp is that he could be used as an example as the parent body seeks to emphasise their commitment to sportsmanship after an inordinate number of eight dismissals in World Cup games on April 2nd.

Ominously, McAteer has been indicted for one of the game's more serious charges, violent conduct, by the Italian referee, Alfredo Tretalalange. McAteer lunged in midair at his Macedonian opponent, Mitko Stojkaski, in the growing frustration of that ill fated game.

Normally, this kind of violation carries a minimum three match ban and, if imposed now, it would keep McAteer out of the World Cup until the game against Iceland in Reykjavik on September 9th.

"It was the first time in his career that Jason was sent off and I would hope that FIFA will take this into account" said Mick McCarthy. "The incident looked worse on television than it actually was. I hope that common sense will prevail."