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Ireland Confirms Israel Game Will Go Ahead After Player Vote
Confirmed
In Short: The Republic of Ireland has confirmed Sunday's UEFA Nations League game against Israel will go ahead after a significant majority of players voted in favor of playing the match.
The Republic of Ireland has confirmed Sunday's UEFA Nations League game against Israel will go ahead after a significant majority of players voted in favor of playing the match.
Players began to emerge from a lengthy meeting around 13:00 BST, with the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) CEO David Courell confirming the news conference would take place at 14:30 BST.
The game, originally scheduled to be played in Israel, will now take place in Debrecen, Hungary, due to ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.
The Irish Sport for Palestine Group, which includes former players and celebrities, has been campaigning for a boycott, citing Israel's genocidal actions in Gaza.
Courell also revealed that the Republic of Ireland will wear black armbands during the game and will refrain from parts of the pre-match ceremony.
The FAI's decision to proceed with the game has drawn criticism from former coach Brian Kerr, who said the FAI had 'lost the respect of the Irish people.
What's confirmed
- Over 160 Irish sportspeople have signed an open letter, published in the Morning Star yesterday, issued by the Irish Sport for Palestine Group urging the Football Association of Ireland to reconsider its decision to go ahead with the fixture.
- In May, leading Irish footballers joined celebrities in a campaign by Irish Sport for Palestine, urging Ireland to boycott the match against Israel.
- The Republic of Ireland 's controversial Nations League fixture against Israel will go ahead on Sunday after a "significant majority" of players voted for the games to be played following a four-hour summit Saturday morning in Hungary.
- Football Association of Ireland chief David Courell also confirmed one player, widely reported to be goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, "expressed their discomfort with fulfilling this fixture" to manager Heimir Hallgrimsson and "indicated their intent to withdraw" from the squad.
- Hallgrimsson confirmed that just one player had withdrawn from the squad.
- When media in the room raised Bazunu's name, neither the Republic of Ireland boss nor Courell denied it was the Bolton keeper, though they did not outright confirm.
What's still developing
- Around 13:00 BST, players began to filter out of the meeting room with it then confirmed the news conference would indeed go ahead, back at Nagyerdei Stadion at 14:30 with training to follow.
- The players were locked in a meeting, with unconfirmed reports that several players, including goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, expressed their wish to withdraw from the game leading to questions whether the game would go ahead.
- It was reported that several more players were considering joining Bolton goalkeeper Bazunu in protest but in the afternoon, a press conference was held announcing that a ‘significant majority’ of the Ireland team had voted in favour of playing.
- ‘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,’ Football Association of Ireland CEO David Courell said.
- Earlier this week, Hallgrimsson said his side were ‘playing against genocide’, only for the Israel Football Association to accuse the Icelandic of ‘stupidity, ignorance and hypocrisy’.
- Heimir Hallgrimsson’s team are scheduled to play Israel in Hungary with a return fixture to follow in Serbia on 4 October.
- Such is the political tension over the fixture, that the return leg on October 4 was moved from Dublin to a neutral location in Serbia but there is uncertainty whether it will still go ahead.
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- REPUBLIC of Ireland midfielder Jason Knight does not believe the game against Israel on Sunday should go ahead.
- Seven months on, the Ireland vs Israel game is expected to be played as scheduled but amid vociferous criticism, louder calls for Irish football officials not to send a team to the game and bitter Israeli responses to the backlash.
- A United Nations inquiry confirmed in June 2025 that Israel was committing a genocide in Gaza.
- Last November, 93 percent of FAI members voted for its leadership to pressure UEFA to suspend Israel under those statutes, a mandate campaigners say the Irish governing body should “respect and represent”.