League club officials from around the country last night opted to avoid a clash with next summer's World Cup finals and start the domestic season during the second weekend of July rather than a month earlier, as had been originally intended. The delay means that the campaign will now run a month into 2003.

While avoiding the poor weather that comes with January, had been one reason for the shift towards summer soccer, improving the performances of clubs in Europe had been another key factor in prompting the switch. Given the late start, however, this season's champions are likely to have only one competitive game under their belts by the time they play their first qualifying round match in mid-July.

Both divisions of the league, meanwhile, will be played over three rounds of games next season, a decision that was fiercely opposed last night by representatives of the four big Dublin outfits.

With each of them employing a number of full-time professionals on 52-week contracts, they produced a rare display of unity at the meeting in an attempt to persuade other delegates that four rounds of games would be better.

The time constraints meant that such a programme would have involved large numbers of midweek matches, however, and those clubs whose teams consist almost exclusively of part-time players with other jobs were firmly opposed to the idea. In the end the decision came down to a vote of the Premier Division club representatives and when it was taken the four Dubliners had failed to win over a single one of the other six present.

Next year's FAI cup looks certain to involve 32 clubs again in its first round proper, despite the difficulties involved in organising entries from outside the senior ranks because of the new timing of the competition. The system for selecting next year's entrants will now be clarified by the domestic committee of the FAI, but a situation in which only the senior clubs take part will be avoided.

The final of next year's cup will take place during the October bank holiday weekend, some three months before the end of the league campaign in late January while the league cup will be temporarily shelved for the year.

The draw for the quarter-finals of this year's competition was made last night and is: Derry City v Waterford United; Cork City v Limerick; Shamrock Rovers v Longford Town; and St Patrick's Athletic v Bohemians.