Larne expect European tie to go ahead as opponents fly in at 11th hour, in breach of UEFA regulations

There is a huge prize on offer, as well as the money involved in European progress, with the winner of the tie set to face Scottish giants Rangers

Larne’s Europa League qualifying clash with FC Iberia looks set to go ahead despite not complying with UEFA regulations.

The Tbilisi club were due to arrive in Northern Ireland on Monday night for the match 24 hours later, but it’s understood their chartered flight was delayed over ‘paperwork issues’.

The squad are not now due to arrive until Tuesday afternoon, just a matter of hours before kick off at Inver Park (8pm).

Uefa regulations say teams must arrive in a country for a match at least 24 hours before kick-off. However Larne have taken to social media to allay fears over the fixture to say the match is “scheduled to go ahead as planned”.

It’s believed the Georgian team could still request that the game is delayed for 24 hours.

There is a huge prize on offer, as well as the money involved in European progress, with the winner of the tie set to face Scottish giants Rangers or Jagellonia Bialystock of Poland in the next round.

The losing team will drop into the final qualifying round of the Uefa Conference League.

Ahead of the game, Larne manager Gary Haveron warned his players to focus on the task at hand.

“It’s impossible to ignore the carrot of a competitive tie with Rangers should they progress in the Europa League,” said Haveron. “But we expect our players to keep their feet firmly on the ground for now.”

The loser will drop into the final qualifying round of the Uefa Conference League.

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