John Fallon: Ireland U17s a small pawn in Fifa's thirst for overkill

That’s by doubling the amount of participants at World Cups to 48 teams and, in the case of the U17 tournaments, intensifying their frequency from every four years to annual events.

Such is the twisted turf war between Infantino’s Fifa and Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin that Ireland were deemed good enough for the World Cup but not the Euros.

Only eight nations qualified for the European showpiece in May, to be held in Albania, whereas the top 11 placed teams during the qualifiers are invited to the bloated showpiece in November.

Belgium’s 1-0 win over Colin O’Brien’s side in last week’s qualifiers was decisive for that Euros sole ticket but, by Ireland beating mini-group hosts Poland 2-0 and Iceland 5-0, they emerged top of the runners-up table.

Ireland’s prize is their trip to Qatar later in the year.

Should the next Irish bunch replicate the feat in 12 months, they’ll also be heading to Qatar in 2026, as the Gulf state was granted hosting rights for the opening five tournaments under the new-fangled format.

Morocco is staging the women’s equivalent until 2029, also now on a yearly basis.

Infantino is Swiss born, but his reign as Fifa head honcho appears to be alienating him from Europe.

Anybody believing the demise of Sepp Blatter as a force would engender a culture change at the summit of world football was naive because Infantino has developed a reputation akin to Gordon Gekko.

He may contend his crusade of congesting the football calendar with enlarged club and country tournaments, such as the upcoming Club World Cup, is meeting demand but there’s scant allowance for player welfare or the cost burden for fans.

His mantra centres on football being promoted at every opportunity, in every part of the world, yet some areas appear preferable to others.

America is the epicentre for the senior game, both this summer and in 2026.

Less than 80 days away in Miami on June 14, the month-long Club World Cup kicks off to the soundtrack of Infantino blasting out the $1bn prize fund as his catchphrase.

Only the elite from each confederation benefit, with each of the 32 participants up to the champions bounty of $100m, banking a wedge for the sacrifice of fulfilling club fixtures during the only traditional period of rest.

Recent photo opportunities of Infantino in the Oval Office with his fellow president, Donald Trump, constitute the first samples of a PR campaign between like-minded personalities.

By summer 2026, the duo will be considered inseparable when the greatest show on earth, the World Cup, lands on American soil as part of a joint hosting with Canada and Mexico.

It’s the first US-based version since 1994. Ireland were part of that tournament and hope to end a 24-year famine by returning Stateside next year, but it will be to a tournament double in size from that historic experience.

In essence, the U17s are pioneers of the new era, entrants to a tournament that only has the sense of one because it’s based in one area in blitz format.

Drill into the detail and the numbers game is apparent.

When all 48 teams are known — only 23 so far have qualified — they’ll be funnelled into four mini-tournaments.

These, in turn, split into three groups of four teams, from which only the winner is guaranteed a route to the semi-finals. One place goes to the best runner-up across the pools.

From there, ‘finals’ are contested to produce the four nations that progress to another semi-final and final for the ultimate prize.

Hence, in distillation, gone is the conventional last-16 phase, or even last-32, with quarter-finals also binned. Finalists will have played seven games.

Infantino will be there to witness the bonanza himself, smug at seemingly racing ahead in the phoney war against the upstarts of Uefa.

This is the third tournament staged by Qatar, the 2022 World Cup being the most contentious, and the Fifa chief has offered every indication, especially through his Saudi Arabia dalliance, of more extravaganzas shifting to the Middle East.

Six months from now, the generation of Jaden Umeh and Rory Finneran will sample the time of their young lives, an opportunity of representing their country on the world stage.

They walk on the shoulders of giants, such as Golden Ball winners Toni Kroos, Phil Foden, and Cesc Fabregas, into a showcase with a reach unlike anything they’d previously encountered.

Buzzwords such as equality and transparency will abound from the presidential suites when they gaze upon the gems before them, within which surely a future champion of the senior World Cup will reside.

However much Ireland can’t afford to moralise when there’s a tournament to compete in, neither should it be forgotten the grubbiness behind the crusade for bigger and bigger.

Spotlight on Kennedy/Gaynor funding as summer story simmers

An update on the implementation of FAI’s pathways plan is due in mid-April but there could be some developments around the thorny topic of summer soccer before then.

For starters, so aghast were the association at a Galway club challenging president Paul Cooke on the matter during a recent strategy meeting that they’ve been summoned to a court-marshalling this week. Apparently, grassroots outfits fortunate to have earned their club mark accreditation shouldn’t be so vociferous in public.

Then, there’s an open meeting of leagues and clubs in Munster next Monday at the Castletroy Hotel in Limerick, at 7pm, to discuss the topic.

Yesterday, a survey emerged conducted by the largest league in the country, the Dublin and District Schoolboys/girls. Among the findings of 5,220 participants was a preference to play fixtures in September, October, and November.

Summer months of July and August were cited as the optimal for holiday breaks.

Another summit is tentatively pencilled in for Saturday week. Murmurs of funding freezes — such as the €160,000 paid annually towards running the SFAI Gaynor and Kennedy Cup tournaments in Limerick — have surfaced in recent days.

That’s not gone down well and the gathering of underage leagues will be called if release of vital monies is contingent upon the freedom of choice on season format being removed.

Herrick served Cork Hibs with distinction

A huge turnout for his funeral on Monday in Galway was befitting of John Herrick, the first-ever Cork Hibernians player capped by Ireland.

His first and second caps were both against Chile, the latter on the tour of Brazil, but his standout international moment was his third and final appearance which came against France in 1973.

Liam Touhy had given notice of his intention to quit after the World Cup qualifier at the Parc des Princes but his build-up was hampered by an unnecessary friendly after their trip to the USSR. Unsurprisingly, given details to emerge in recent years, that conduit game was in Poland.

While the squad arrived in Paris, their kit didn’t. John wasn’t minded to revolt like Roy Keane did in Saipan 29 years later and the French sourced a substitute strip from their supplier Adidas, ensuring Ireland ran out to 40,000 fans in traditional green. Additional problems arose with a lost bus driver and sourcing a suitable training ground but the Irish, including early substitute John, were full value for the 1-1 draw accrued through Mick Martin’s equaliser.

A legend in both Cork and Galway, many a familiar face including John Caulfield, Tony Mannion, and Mick Sheehan paid their respects at the Galway Cathedral. The Herrick tradition was maintained by his son Mark, who won the 1998 FAI Cup in the colours of City.

john.fallon@examiner.ie