Ireland coach Heimir Hallgrimsson says his team will play their second Nations League football match against Israel on Sunday despite opposition from the Irish public and a public boycott by a player due to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. It is already decided we will fulfil the games.” Ireland beat Israel 3-0 in Hungary on Sunday following a turbulent build-up in which the squad voted to fulfil the fixture after goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu pulled out a day before the game. Israeli supporters were accused of directing racist chants towards Irish forward Adam Idah and were filmed raising military slogans during the match, but evaded disciplinary action from the competition’s organisers.
The 25-year-old Ireland international, born to a Nigerian father and an Irish mother, was targeted with “monkey chants”, as videos circulating on social media showed, but the fans’ behaviour has gone unpunished by UEFA. An Israeli supporter also led chants about his country’s military from the stands as he attempted to brush aside the team’s drubbing on the football pitch. According to reports in the Irish media, UEFA confirmed that racist abuse by Israeli fans towards Idah occurred, but that the matter cannot be investigated because the protocols were not followed by Irish players and officials.
Ireland face Austria on Thursday in Dublin before their designated home match against Israel, which will be played behind closed doors in Backa Topola, Serbia. During Sunday’s match in Debrecen, Ireland’s players wore black armbands in recognition of all the lives lost to Israeli attacks in Gaza and bowed their heads as the Israeli national anthem was played at the near-empty stadium. The teams skipped the traditional pre-match handshakes and did not exchange pennants.
Ireland’s first-choice goalkeeper, Gavin Bazunu, was the only player who publicly opted out of the fixture and posted a statement on social media, saying he felt “it would be wrong to participate in the upcoming fixtures against Israel”. Hallgrimsson said on Wednesday the Irish players would again wear black armbands during the second fixture and bow their heads during the Israeli anthem.
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