Disciplinary proceedings have been opened by UEFA following the throwing of tennis balls onto the pitch at the Aviva Stadium during the Republic of Ireland's Euro 2020 qualifier against Georgia.

The case will be dealt with by the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary on 16 May.

The throwing of the balls in the 33rd minute was part of a planned protest following recent developments in the FAI, where John Delaney stepped down as chief executive for a newly created executive vice-president position in the wake of revelations around a 'bridging loan' he paid to the FAI.

As a result, the game was delayed by four minutes, When play resumed, Conor Hourihane curled home Ireland's winning goal from a free-kick.

In trying to ascertain what sanction awaits the FAI, Manchester United were recently fined just over €16,000 by UEFA after PSG's Angel Di Maria - former United player - had beer bottles thrown at him by a section of the Old Trafford crowd during the Champions League clash on 12 February.

The protest was a cause of debate in the RTÉ studio at half-time and after the final whistle.

Richie Sadlier supported the fans' right to make their anger known to the powers that be.

"These fans are angry and disillusioned and for very legitimate reasons and they were feeling this way long before Mick McCarthy took the job.

"They feel if there is no meaningful change at executive level of how the FAI does its business they will continue to feel this way long after Mick leaves. We already know he is going.

"It is a sign of how upset they are, how disgruntled they are, that they would show up here and do that but it is clear why they do it. They could do it in their back garden tomorrow but no one would see it," continued Sadlier.

Fans are 'disillusioned' and need TDs to do more than tickle and flirt with John Delaney

A must watch debate, as @richiesadlier and Damien Duff expand on their views on @faireland governance #RTEsoccer #irlgeo #irevgeo pic.twitter.com/V5eKpMGECq — RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) March 26, 2019

Former Ireland winger Damien Duff disagreed, stating fans should not jeopardise the team's performance - even if he agreed with their point. Highlighting how Georgia's best first-half chance came during the added time that resulted from the tennis ball protest.

"I think it is ridiculous," said Duff. "I think where [Georgia] nearly scored is three minutes in, there were four minutes added on and that was because of the tennis balls.

"For me Georgia nearly scored because of our CEO. The build-up tonight, for the beautiful game at Lansdowne Road, was not about football, it was about John Delaney."