Stephen Kenny has questioned the ‘transparency' of UEFA’s fixture scheduling policy.
And the Ireland boss is particularly annoyed that his team has no Group B game on the final day of the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.
Ireland have it all to do to reach the finals in Germany after being drawn against Holland, France, Greece and Gibraltar with only the top two qualifying.
READ MORE: Katie McCabe talks about what World Cup qualification would mean to the nation
But Kenny has hit out at the lack of a match on the final day, claiming it could play into his rivals’ hands.
“I’m very disappointed with the lack of transparency around the last fixture,” Kenny told Off the Ball.
“We don’t play on the last day. Holland play Gibraltar and France play Greece. If France need a draw against Greece they can take a draw.
“If Holland need to score four goals against Gibraltar they know that. We’ve no fixtures. We’re not happy about that at all.
“If there is going to be an odd one out surely it has to be the lowest seed. It’s just not equitable.
“I’ve sought clarification but there’s very little feedback - that’s just the way the draw is.”
Kenny admitted he would have preferred to avoid playing away to Greece in June when the temperatures will be stifling.
“We wouldn’t have wanted Greece away in June, we saw fires ravage through Greece last summer, temperatures are really, really high in June,” he said.
“We didn’t want that one in June. That’s something we’re going to have to prepare for and acclimatise for.
“It’s six weeks after the Championship ends too so we’ll have to have a two-week lead-in.
“We need to go abroad to acclimatise in similar climatic conditions, with similar temperatures, the stakes are too high.”
Kenny is going to the World Cup in Qatar and will take in some of Holland and France’s games.
But he admits the human rights issues in the country made him think about his decision to go.
Kenny said: “The thousands who have died in Qatar is incredible really. It’s something that we have to wrestle with. But by not going, what are you achieving? I’m not sure.
“It’s something that I have to go to represent Ireland, to do the job to the best of my ability.
“It’s a great experience to go to the tournament, to study the teams and the way they play.”
