If the draw was made now the seeded nations would be Croatia, France, Greece and Russia. And they would be drawn against either Bosnia, Ireland, Slovenia or Sweden. Of course, those teams could change by next Wednesday.

It is a tactic which both FIFA and UEFA have used in the past for qualifying play-offs, seemingly afraid that a tournament without one of those big names is unthinkable. In 2005, Spain were seeded and drawn against Slovakia, the weakest of the six teams in the play-offs.

Given is furious at the decision, which he understandably feels could hurt Ireland’s chances of making it to the finals next summer.

He said: “I think it’s pretty disgusting, to be honest. Before a ball is kicked, these things should be made clear. Now they change it because some of the big nations are struggling. It’s beyond belief, if you ask me.

“It’s pretty disgusting because we are a smaller nation and for them to move the goalposts a few weeks before the end of the campaign is pretty poor. The smaller nations should maybe put up more of a fight because it is not fair.”

- Given slams FIFA's decision to seed play-offs, soccernet.com, October 7, 2009.

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