THE FAI HAVE agreed new terms with women’s national team boss Vera Pauw that will allow her to stay on should Ireland qualify for the delayed European Championships. 

Pauw was initially contracted to the end of the 2021 European Championship campaign, but the tournament has been put back to 2022 following the cessation of activities forced by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Thus she and the FAI have renewed terms allowing her stay on to the end of the finals in July 2022. 

“It is fantastic to have the support of the FAI as we look to secure qualification for the UEFA Women’s European Championships, which will now be held in 2022. We know that there is a lot of hard work ahead of us with three big games still to play, but it is a challenge for which we do everything in our power to succeed in,” said Pauw.

Ireland sit top of their qualifying group after five games, but have their three most difficult games left to play – away and home games with top seeds Germany either side of a trip to Ukraine – and have played more games than all of their rivals.