Republic of Ireland v Israel: Boycott of Israeli games will cause ‘deep and lasting damage’
The Republic of Ireland’s boycott of this autumn’s games against Israel will cause “serious and lasting damage” to Irish football and lead to losses of around 10.3m euros (£9m), the Football Association of Ireland has said.
After the United Nations failed in February, the FAI confirmed it would go ahead with the games, with chief executive David Courell saying the governing body had “no other option” and could face “serious consequences” if it pulled out.
However, an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of the FAI’s General Assembly was initiated when more than 10% of its members were against playing the League of Nations games.
The EGM will be held on Wednesday, 8 July, although its outcome is not binding on the FAI executive.
That followed growing pressure to boycott the matches after protests outside the Dail (Irish parliament), while May’s friendly with Qatar was twice interrupted when tennis balls emblazoned with the Palestinian flag were thrown onto the pitch.
The ‘Stop the Game’ campaign was also launched by Irish Sport in Palestine.
The proposal proposed by the FAI Board to its members states: “While acknowledging the strength of the feeling regarding the support of Palestine and the upcoming Uefa Men’s Nations League games, that the members are aware of the significant impact that any failure of the Uefa games would have on Irish football as a whole and its future development, and allow those agreements to fulfill those principles.”
The FAI board has also given its reasons for not boycotting the games on 27 September and 4 October.
“Having considered all available information and the consequences of non-fulfillment, the board concluded that refusing to play these matches would cause serious and lasting damage to Irish football, without showing that such action would lead to any change in Israel’s participation in UEFA competitions,” the letter reads.
Both matches are scheduled to be played on neutral grounds.
Debrecen in Hungary will host Israel’s home game on October 27.
The Republic of Ireland’s home game will be played behind closed doors in Backa Topola, Serbia after Uefa rejected the FAI’s request due to “operational issues” with the game in Dublin.
In a letter to members, the FAI board said it respected differing views on whether matches should be played but said a boycott would “result in disciplinary action by Uefa” which would include automatic six-point deductions, loss of income and possible expulsion from the competition.
The letter went on to say that not playing these games could lead to the Nations League being relegated and also affect future World Cup and European Championship qualifiers.
The FAI also estimated a financial loss of 10.3m euros which would lead to reduced investment at all levels of the game from the grassroots to the top.
The letter went on to say that the boycott would set an example for all other Irish teams, men and women of all ages, when they were to face Israel.
It reads as follows: “The Association will continue to represent the views of its members, as it did by bringing the proposal of its members to the Uefa Executive Committee to suspend the Israel Football Association from Uefa competitions.”
The Israeli army launched an operation in Gaza in response to an unprecedented attack led by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 were captured.
At least 73,035 people have been killed in Israel’s offensive in Gaza since then, including more than 21,280 children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the area, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN.
