The Irish team votes to play against Israel but one leaves the concentration
The Football Federation of Ireland (FAI) confirmed this Saturday that his team will face that of Israel in the Nations League, despite the fact that one footballer has refused to play and others expressed reservations due to the context of the war in Gaza and the calls for a boycott made in the country.
This was indicated by the CEO of the FAI, David Courell, in a tense press conference in which he was accompanied by the coach, the Icelandic Heimir Hallgrímsson.
The manager explained that a “significant majority” of players voted in favor of playing the match, which will be played on Sunday at the Nagyerdei Stadion in Debrecen (Hungary) because Israel faces its international events as host outside its territory.
Hallgrimsson indicated that one of his players “changed his mind this morning” and announced that he has left the Republic of Ireland national team camp.
The newspaper ‘The Irish Times’ reported that it is the goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu and that other players also expressed reservations regarding their participation, although the coach stated that no one else has made that decision.
The next clash between both teams, in which Ireland will play at home, is scheduled for October 4 in Serbia behind closed doors, as the FAI decided in July by choosing to play these matches on neutral grounds, instead of boycotting them completely.
That position has generated criticism and calls for a boycott in Ireland, in a context of strong opposition to Israel’s actions in Gaza.
The Irish team comes into this match after losing 1-0 against Kosovo on the first day of the Nations League while Israel lost 3-1 against Austria.
A tense press conference
“Nobody is comfortable playing these games for many reasons. “We are trying to deal with it the best way we can at the moment,” said Hallgrimsson this Saturday, who regretted the “enormous pressure” to which its players are subjected.
“By playing, we are not accepting what is happening in Gaza. By playing, players are not supporting what is happening in Gaza,” the coach insisted in a press conference in which he was also approached by the Israeli media.
He was asked if he regretted having described the situation in Gaza last week as “genocide”, which led the Israeli federation to accuse him of “stupidity, ignorance and hypocrisy.”
“It’s a very strong word and it wasn’t the right word for me to use. In Europe there is great support for Palestine and in Ireland that support is especially strong. I felt that this pressure was growing day by day and that now it is almost reaching a breaking point,” Hallgrimsson added.
