Irish football chiefs are taking legal advice over an Argentine newspaper column claiming that Republic of Ireland players were paid $10,000 each to avoid tackling Argentina star Lionel Messi during a 2010 friendly.
The Football Association of Ireland has described the allegation, made in a column in Argentine daily La Nacion, as "baseless" and has vowed to take the matter further.
Argentina travelled to Dublin in August 2010 to play Ireland in a friendly to officially open the new Aviva Stadium -- the column suggests in part to help compensate the FAI for the nation's controversial World Cup playoff exit in France nine months earlier.
An FAI statement read: "The Football Association of Ireland completely refutes the allegations made about the Republic of Ireland v Argentina friendly match in La Nacion as baseless.
"The match in question was organised by Kentaro and announced by press release prior to the World Cup playoffs in 2009. We are consulting our legal advisers in relation to the article, and will be taking further steps."
The column, written by Ezequiel Fernandez Moores, claims the late Julio Grondona, then-president of the Argentina Football Association and senior FIFA vice president, suggested to FIFA counterpart Sepp Blatter that the Argentina team should head for Dublin.
However, it alleges that Messi's club Barcelona were unhappy with the arrangement and, with an insurance quote for the game coming in at $5 million, it was decided to adopt the less costly policy of paying the Ireland players to go easy on the visitors' star man.
The game, in which captain Robbie Keane won his 100th senior international cap, ended 1-0, with Angel Di Maria scoring the only goal in front of a crowd of 45,200.
The FAI found itself thrust into the limelight earlier this month after chief executive John Delaney confirmed it had received a loan, later written off, of €5m from FIFA in the wake of the Republic's play-off heartbreak at the Stade de France.
Delaney claimed the payment was used to offset the cost of redeveloping the old Lansdowne Road stadium. He also claimed it had been made after he and Blatter had entered into a deal under which the Irish governing body would not take legal action over the goal that handed France their ticket to South Africa after referee Martin Hansson and his assistants failed to spot Thierry Henry's handball in the build-up.
The confidentiality agreement between the two parties, which was released by the FAI in a bid to clarify the situation, described the payment as an "inducement" not to enter into litigation.