From The 42Israel game

The Ireland players met on Friday to work on releasing a statement laying out their stance.

LAST UPDATE | 26 Sep

An editorial note re: The 42’s reporting on the Uefa Nations League matches between Ireland and Israel is available to read here.

THE REPUBLIC OF Ireland men’s team will play Israel on Sunday after a “significant majority” of players voted to proceed with the game.

A press conference held on Saturday afternoon in Debrecen in Hungary confirmed that one player has pulled out of the squad.

Media were told by FAI chief executive David Courell that, earlier, an unnamed player “expressed discomfort” about taking part in the game, which prompted “four hours of conversations” amongst the players and some coaching personnel.

Players will also wear a black armband in recognition of “all lives lost in the conflict”.

Reacting to the news, the Stop the Game campaign said the FAI had stated that its priority was to protect its players, but it said that the organisation had failed “catastrophically and completely” in that duty.

The group said it will continue to oppose the “sportswashing of Israel’s genocide” and that further actions will follow in the coming days.

Social Democrats spokesperson on sport Daniel Ennis said there is “widespread public revulsion” in Ireland about the game, but he said the weight of the decision on whether to play “should never have been placed” on the Irish team.

“The decision by our international squad to fulfil Ireland’s fixture against Israel in the Nations League tomorrow is disappointing – but our players should never have been put in such a difficult position to begin with,” Ennis said in a statement.

“Today’s delay to the team’s press conference and training session gave rise to last-minute hopes that Sunday’s game in Hungary would not go ahead,” the Dublin Central added.

“Those hopes have now been dashed.”

Ennis added that it is “not the players’ failure”, but that he believes it is “a failure of the Irish government, the FAI and UEFA to do the right thing” and stop the game from proceeding.

Reacting to the FAI press conference, Labour TD Ciarán Ahern also said the Irish government needs to intervene to stop the game and end the unfair pressure players and management are currently under.

Ahern said the government placed the FAI and individual players under “unbelievable financial and moral pressure”, adding that credit must also be given to the player who took the “brave decision” not to play the game.

Sinn Féin also weighed in. Its spokesperson on sport, TD Joanna Byrne, slammed the board of the FAI.

“The decision to ignore the will of the Irish people and fulfil the games against Israel will go down as the worst decision ever made by any board of the FAI, and that is saying something,” she said.

She said the board has both “betrayed” Irish football and the people of Palestine, as well as failing to protect its players.

“They have left the reputation of the association in tatters, and they must now reflect on whether they are the right people to pick up the pieces,” the TD said.

A spokesperson for union Siptu similarly expressed concern for the players’ welfare, asserting that the decision should never have been placed on the players.

Earlier, there had been widespread confusion at the camp, with Republic of Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrímsson and a player due to speak to the media at 9.15am Irish time.

However, 15 minutes before it was due to start a message came through from the association that it would happen after the team’s training session at the Nagyerdei Stadion.

A Uefa delegate in attendance confirmed that the European governing body only found out at the same time and that one potential punishment is a fine.

The 42 understands that a statement on behalf of the players was due to be released before the press conference took place, laying out their stance on fulfilling Sunday’s fixture.

It is now understood that fulfilling the fixture hangs in the balance as the squad gathered for a team meeting with Hallgrímsson about whether to play against Israel.

The squad met to discuss their feelings and options available to them, and while a boycott is understood to be unlikely, there was a sense of anger and frustration at the situation the players have been put in, as detailed earlier today.

“I don’t think the game should be going ahead but it is going ahead. We’ll have a deeper talk about it and what that means, we’ll get our thoughts as a group and go from there,” Jason Knight said on Thursday.

“I think it was a difficult one. It’s obviously big talk in Ireland. I have been focusing on my football in England in the Championship. But I knew this was coming, so I had a think about it. 

“We had chats about it with the players, and more senior players on what the step will be. Now we’re here, we can have a really in-depth talk of what that means and what the consequences are. We’ll do that [on Friday] and go from there.

International teammate Chiedozie Ogbene also expressed his deep unease. “I am a practising Catholic and I have morals. I do not agree with what is happening. I feel sorry for the civilians, and that is where my heart is, the people who are being affected.

“I am not an idiot, I see some messages, fans have made their opinions heard, but I try not to read as much as I can.

“If the game goes ahead, that does not mean we are best friends with Israel. It is the Israeli government who are making decisions. These questions, I’ll be honest with you, the best people to answer them are in Uefa, not us. That’s the honest truth.”

Written by David Sneyd and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.

With reporting by Eoghan Dalton and Jane Matthews for The Journal