Ireland cannot commit to sending any teams to the worlds this year.
With government restrictions there is too much uncertainty around whether anyone will be allowed to leave the country. As we stand of today there is a 500 euro fine for anyone leaving Ireland, and on return people face 14 days in mandatory quarantine and a 2000 euro fine if they have not a negative Covid test. The government are telling the Irish people not to travel outside Ireland this year. Feedback from players and their families states that they are apprehensive about their own safety and we agree that player safety is paramount.
Other obstacles such as financial support for our players, how we pick teams, players not been able to afford to go with been out of work for so long have all contributed to the decision that the Irish Pool Association will not sanction the participation of any of their members participating in the championships in 2021.
The IPA feel for this year whether the worlds go ahead or not, we work to get our own association back on track and look forward to resuming world battle in 2022 when hopefully everything is back to normality. Stay safe everyone and hopefully we will see you all soon.
Regards,
David McQuillan,
Irish Pool Association,
Chairperson.