Republic of Ireland players voted to proceed with Sunday’s match in Hungary after a squad member sought to withdraw over the war in Gaza.
The Republic of Ireland will play their Nations League match against Israel on Sunday in Debrecen, Hungary, after players voted to fulfill the fixture, the Football Association of Ireland announced on Saturday.
The squad held discussions in their team hotel Saturday after a player said he didn’t want to participate. David Courell, the chief executive of the FAI, said the player approached the head coach that morning to express discomfort with playing and announced an intention to leave the squad. Team officials delayed the pre-match press conference and training session while talks took place among players, coaches and executives. Al Jazeera reported that players remained in the hotel more than three hours after training was due to start at 11 a.m. local time, while the Associated Press reported the events were delayed by more than five hours.
Courell said a vote was organized within the squad about 90 minutes before the rescheduled briefing. ‘Ultimately, within the last maybe 90 minutes, we carried out a vote amongst the squad to establish their sentiment on fulfilling the fixtures, and it was a significant majority that was returned with the intention to continue,’ Courell said. He added that the association decided to proceed on behalf of Irish football, saying officials always intended to play the games.
Player objections and squad meetings
Goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu told the squad during a meeting that he wouldn’t play against Israel, citing a conscientious objection. Jason Knight became the first Irish player to publicly oppose the fixture, calling the circumstances difficult and stating the game shouldn’t happen. Everton defender Jake O’Brien was also involved in the hotel meetings.
Ahead of the match, Irish winger Chiedozie Ogbene asked the public not to ‘put the pressure on us’ over boycott campaigns. Following a 1-0 defeat to Kosovo in Ireland’s opening Uefa Nations League Group B3 match, captain Dara O’Shea said the players planned to meet Friday to establish an approach for the Israel game. More than 160 Irish athletes had called on the country to boycott fixtures against Israel.
Neutral venues and political disputes
All of Israel’s home matches are being staged in Debrecen. Ireland also moved its scheduled Oct. 4 home fixture from Dublin to Serbia, where it will take place without spectators.
The FAI’s membership voted in November to ask UEFA to bar Israel from European competitions, though an extraordinary general meeting in July approved playing the matches. Tensions rose when Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson said his team was ‘playing against genocide’ during a news conference. The Israeli Football Association responded by criticizing his comments as hypocritical. United Nations experts and rights groups have characterized Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as genocide, an allegation the Israeli government strongly rejects.
