No one feels comfortable: Goalkeeper refuses to face Israel but game will go on

The Irish players did not reach an unanimous agreement but they will take to the pitch to face Israel this Sunday in Debrecen, Hungary, in the Nations League.

Earlier in the day, goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu made clear that he would not play against the Israelis because of the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza, which most experts agree is a genocide. The coaching staff, players and federation officials then met to hear from anyone else who felt uncomfortable with the match and to decide what to do.

FAI chief executive David Courell spoke to the media in a press conference that started much later than scheduled and said that, although not all of them, the vast majority of players had opted to take the field on Sunday.

“Over the past hour, we held a vote and the result was a significant majority in favour of playing. The federation then decided to honour the fixture,” he said.

According to the federation, 30 players were consulted before travelling to Hungary for the match. The local media says Bazunu was not among them, but that other players also made clear they were against the game.

Coach Heimir Hallgrimsson spoke more openly and better reflected the players’ feelings. “This affects every player and nobody is comfortable,” he said at the press conference.

“If a player takes part tomorrow, it does not mean they are accepting what is happening in Gaza. If I can speak for the players’ feelings, they feel they are doing something wrong by playing this match for Ireland,” the coach said.

“It is not a good feeling. We want to make it clear that we do not support anything that is happening in Gaza. We are playing this fixture because it is the rule of the competition we are part of,” he added.

The Irish players took to the field with a black armband “in recognition of all lives lost in the conflict”. According to Courell, the players and the federation will also make donations to charities working in Gaza.

The Irish movement Stop the Game was one of the main driving forces behind calls for the match not to go ahead. It brings together supporters, players, coaches and officials and calls for Israel to be excluded from sporting events.

Speaking about the match, the movement, which protested in the streets of Dublin and also at local stadiums, said that “taking the field treats Israel as a normal international competitor and gives the sporting recognition and normalisation that the boycott aims to withdraw”.

On the Israeli side, coach Ran Ben-Shimon said that “those who lose today are the ones who want to turn football into a political arena. We are proud that tomorrow the whistle will be blown. May the best team win”.

When asked how his players would react if any Irish player refused to shake hands before kick-off, Ben-Shimon said: “We will extend our hands. If they do not shake them, that is fine”.

Israel’s communications director, Shlomi Barzel, said he did not regret a post accusing Irish coach Hallgrimsson of ignorance and hypocrisy. Ben-Shimon added: “I think foreigners do not understand our reality. If they really want to understand, they should read more, visit Israel and then they can judge and say what they think.”

Israel and Ireland are in Group B3 of the Nations League, which also includes Austria and Kosovo.