St Patrick’s Athletic players have said they will not play in tonight’s Europa League qualifier against Karpaty Lviv.
The players had already refused to take part in any media activities after the club failed to meet their request for bonus payments and compensation for loss of earnings.
The players have since released a statement confirming that they will not play this evening’s third-round qualifier second leg at Tallaght Stadium. They lost the first leg 2-0.
The statement read: “Following receipt of a fax from the owners of St Patrick’s Athletic Football Club early this morning, we have considered its contents carefully.
“The faxed offer is the same offer that we rejected last night in our meeting with the club. Having discussed it at length, we are unanimous that the offer does not meet our minimum requirements.
“The club will receive many multiples of the amounts we are seeking in prize money so payment to us would still leave the club in profit following our European campaign.
“However, we have made it very clear to the board that our very modest requests would have to be agreed prior to tonight’s match; this issue has been ongoing for the past month.
“It is, therefore, with huge regret that we must inform you that we will not be participating in the fixture this evening. This is a unanimous decision of all the players and has not been reached lightly.
“We realise this is a devastating blow for the fans and the league. It is equally so for us as players but we cannot continue to be treated with disrespect by the club.”