Ireland’s Israel Nations League fixtures disrupted as boycott pressure intensifies

Ireland’s press conference and training session in Debrecen, Hungary, were delayed on Saturday as calls for the team to boycott its two Nations League matches against Israel intensified.

The Irish team is due to play Israel’s “home” fixture in Debrecen on Sunday, with the return match scheduled for 4 October in Backa Topola, Serbia.

Journalists waiting for the pre-match press conference were told just 15 minutes before it was due to start that it would instead take place after training. The training session was also substantially delayed.

Irish broadcaster RTE reported that the players remained at their hotel more than two hours after training was expected to begin. It also said some members of the squad had decided they did not want to play.

“And if they stay to their stated ambition that they have to be all in it together, if one or more want to be out, maybe they will all be out,” RTE Radio 1 reporter Tony O’Donoghue said.

Calls for boycott grow

The Republic of Ireland team has faced mounting pressure at home to withdraw from the fixtures, amid strong public support for Palestinians in Ireland.

After Thursday’s 1-0 defeat by Kosovo, Ireland midfielder Jason Knight said the players were in a difficult position and that he did not believe the games should go ahead.

Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson previously said: “We’re not playing with genocide; we’re playing against genocide. We’re playing against Israel; we’re not playing with Israel.”

Those comments prompted an angry response from the Israeli soccer federation, which accused the Icelandic manager of “stupidity, ignorance and hypocrisy”.

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has resisted demands to cancel the matches, saying it could face severe sanctions from Uefa. Ireland is due to co-host the 2028 European Championship alongside England, Wales and Scotland.

More than 160 Irish sportspeople have signed an open letter calling on the FAI to reverse its decision to proceed with the fixtures.

Protesters gathered outside the team’s hotel in Dublin last week and urged the players not to take part. The Siptu trade union also put up a large poster in central Dublin, beside the River Liffey, with the messages “Go with your conscience!” and “Don’t play with genocide”, next to an image of a blood-splattered football.

Former Ireland manager Brian Kerr said the FAI had “lost the respect of the Irish people” by allowing the matches to go ahead.

“The Irish people and the soccer-going public don’t want the games to be played,” Kerr said. “I think they’ve made their opinions clear over the past year. The FAI in November actually went to Uefa and requested that Israel be put out of the tournament on principle. And yet they went against that principle.”