Security plan in place as Ireland head east to Yerevan

The FAI will send a security delegation to Yerevan ahead of Stephen Kenny and his squad as the Republic of Ireland face Armenia in Saturday's UEFA Nations League fixture.

The Armenian capital city has seen escalating protests in recent weeks with regular protesting of the government’s approach to their relationship with Azerbaijan, which appears unresolved since the six-week war in 2020.

And police clashed with protesters in Yerevan on Monday amid a wave of demonstrations against the prime minister that has seen thousands of people block government buildings, close roads and shut down the metro system.

Pressure against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has increased since he moved closer to normalising relations with Azerbaijan, which defeated Armenia in a six-week war in 2020.

The war, which centred around the status of the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal that led to a significant loss of territory for Armenia.

Ireland manager Kenny confirmed that head of security Joe McGlue would travel out with a security team ahead of the team’s departure.

"We’ve not been briefed on that at the moment," said Kenny, when asked was there any concern regarding the demonstrations in the city.

"But there is a delegation going over, in the early hours. Going ahead in advance. Three or four going over, headed by Joe McGlue.

"I’m sure they will brief us in due course."

It must be noted that the FAI would have a security plan in place for every away game, and the manager actually appeared more concerned with the fact that he might miss out on watching the vital World Cup qualification play-off between two of Ireland’s Nations League opponents, Scotland and Ukraine.

Kenny admitted that he was delighted to see Ukraine are