Ireland have confirmed that their Uefa Nations League game against Israel being held in Hungary will go ahead as planned on Sunday.
The match looked in serious danger of not taking place after a pre-match news conference with manager Heimir Hallgrimsson – who said his squad were “playing against genocide” when announcing his squad for the upcoming fixture – and a player was postponed 15 minutes before it was due to start.
Reporters covering the game were told the conference would take place after the team's morning training session but that also failed to happen with the players still in back in their hotel.
Then, five hours after the original news conference was due to start, Football Association of Ireland [FAI] chief executive David Courell – flanked by Hallgrimsson and FAI director of football John Martin – announced that a players' vote passed by a significant majority to play the game at the Nagyerdei Stadion in Debrecen.
But one player, Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, has withdrawn from the squad, while public opinion in Ireland remains opposed to the game taking place.
“The squad were in Pristina yesterday. An extensive conversation took place where ultimately the consensus from the group was to travel to Hungary,” Courrell told reporters at the rescheduled press conference.
“This morning, a player expressed their discomfort with fulfilling this fixture to the head coach and indicated their intent to withdraw from the squad.
“As you can understand, this new variable required time and deliberation for the rest of the squad to consider.”
Courrell described how there had been four hours of discussions, predominantly between the players, but also involving coaching staff and FAI officials.
“Ultimately, we carried out a vote among the squad to establish their sentiment on fulfilling the fixtures. And it was a significant majority that was returned with the intention to continue.
“So based on that, the association took the decision on behalf of Irish football that this fixture would continue as we have always intended to fulfil the fixtures.
“And in conclusion, I just want to again apologise for the delay and your patience today. We understand it is highly inconvenient for you, but hopefully you can understand it was a unique set of
When asked by the Israeli media if he regrets saying Israel are “committing genocide,” Hallgrimsson said: “It is a strong word and the wrong word for me to use.
“There is a huge support in Europe, with the biggest support in Ireland for Palestine … I felt that pressure growing day by day and it is almost getting to a breaking limit now.
“By playing we are not accepting what is happening in Gaza. By playing the players are not supporting what is happening in Gaza.”
On Friday, midfielder Jason Knight had become the first Ireland player to publicly voice his opposition to facing Israel.
“Look, it's difficult, the manager, and [captain] Dara [O'Shea], and Nathan [Collins] spoke well about it, I don't think the game should be going ahead but it is going ahead,” Knight said following Thursday's 1-0 defeat by Kosovo in Pristina.
“We'll have a deeper talk about it and what that means, we'll get our thoughts as a group and go from there.
“I think it was a difficult one. It's obviously big talk in Ireland. I have been focusing on my football in England in the Championship. But I knew this was coming so I had a think about it.
“I am quite experienced. None of us have gone through this scenario before but I'd like to think I'm experienced, thick skin and can get through most things and that is what I will try to do.
“I'll try to focus on the football as much as I can. I'll give my view and my thoughts on when I see fit, but I'll be trying to focus on the football as much as possible.”
Earlier in the week, the team's Icelandic coach Hallgrimsson had been accused of “ignorance, hypocrisy and stupidity” by the Israeli FA for comments made during his squad announcement.
“We're not playing with genocide, we're playing against genocide. We're playing against Israel, we're not playing with Israel,” the 59-year-old had said, sparking a furious response.
