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Thursday, December 24, 1998 Published at 14:23 GMT

Sport: Rugby Union

New date for Euro semi

Ulster's European Cup semi-final match against Stade Francais has been put back to January 9 after a complaint by the French club at it being switched to the night before.

Stade Francais president Max Guazzini faxed tournament director Roger Pickering with a letter of complaint, saying that playing the game in the evening would prevent it being shown on French TV.

He also claimed that the Ravenhill ground was too small to stage such a high-profile game but extra seating has now been arranged.

"After protracted negotiations it has been decided to change the date and kick-off time of the European Cup semi-final between Ulster and Stade Francais from 7.15pm on January 8 to 1pm the following day.

"Consideration was also given to the many Stade Francais fans who will be supporting their team in Belfast and who were concerned they might not be able to attend on a Friday night," said Pickering.

He confirmed that he was happy with Ravenhill's seating arrangements.

"The increase in capacity to 20,000 has been made possible by the erection of temporary stands and seating. Ravenhill's increased capacity has been given official clearance following a thorough review by the Belfast City Council's health and safety department."