{"id":2293,"date":"2026-09-28T08:38:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T08:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/09\/28\/ireland-football-squad-votes-to-play-israel-despite-player-w\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T08:38:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T08:38:09","slug":"ireland-football-squad-votes-to-play-israel-despite-player-w","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/09\/28\/ireland-football-squad-votes-to-play-israel-despite-player-w\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland football squad votes to play Israel despite player walkout"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"9fece8afa224fd09e54b043d0febfb58\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- NR ATF -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8898941184964366\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"4839033563\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>Amid mounting calls to cancel matches against Israel because of the Gaza conflict, the Republic of Ireland senior football team spent Saturday, September 26, 2026, in prolonged discussions at their hotel before reaching a decision. After several hours of deliberation, a player vote produced a clear majority in favour of honouring the scheduled UEFA Nations League fixtures, although reserve goalkeeper Gavin\u202fBazunu announced his departure from the squad.<\/p>\n<h2>Player vote and walkout<\/h2>\n<p>The team was slated to face Israel in Debrecen, Hungary, on Sunday, September 27, and the internal debate delayed the press conference and training session by more than five hours. David\u202fCourell, chief executive of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), confirmed that an unnamed player\u2019s discomfort had sparked the extended talks. He said a vote was taken and that \u201ca significant majority\u201d supported playing the match, prompting the association to uphold its original commitment.<\/p>\n<p>Bazunu, a 24\u2011year\u2011old reserve goalkeeper, used his personal social\u2011media account to explain his decision to leave the squad. He described it as a matter of conscience, stating that participating would be \u201cwrong\u201d in light of the killing of innocent civilians. He clarified that his stance was not directed against the Israeli people or the Jewish community, but against the atrocities occurring in the region, adding that he felt compelled to act on a larger moral issue.<\/p>\n<p>Coach Heimir Hallgrimsson acknowledged the departure without naming the player, noting that the rest of the squad would continue training. He described the situation as \u201congoing\u201d and said further discussions were expected later that night and the following day, but affirmed that the match would proceed as planned.<\/p>\n<h2>Symbolic gestures and media response<\/h2>\n<p>Courell revealed that the players, while agreeing to play, requested exemption from media duties that would force them to address topics beyond football. He added that the team intends to wear black armbands before the match as a tribute to lives lost in the conflict, and that certain elements of the pre\u2011match ceremony would be omitted.<\/p>\n<p>Both the players and the FAI also pledged to donate a substantial portion of the match fees to charity, with additional contributions expected from the upcoming game against Austria on October\u202f1. The exact amounts will not be disclosed to the public.<\/p>\n<p>National broadcaster RT\u00c9 announced that its coverage of the Israel fixtures will be limited to a stripped\u2011back feed, fulfilling contractual obligations while omitting studio analysis, commentary, and advertising. The broadcaster also confirmed that Ireland will again boycott the Eurovision Song Contest for a second consecutive year due to Israel\u2019s participation.<\/p>\n<h2>Broader public pressure<\/h2>\n<p>Public sentiment in Ireland has been strongly pro\u2011Palestinian, leading to protests outside the team hotel in Dublin and a large poster displayed by the SIPTU trade union near the River Liffey urging players to \u201cgo with your conscience\u201d and \u201cdon\u2019t play with genocide.\u201d More than 160 Irish athletes signed an open letter urging the FAI to reconsider the fixtures.<\/p>\n<p>Former national team manager Brian\u202fKerr criticized the association, saying it had lost the respect of the Irish public by proceeding with the games. He noted that the FAI had previously asked UEFA to ban Israel from competitions on principle, yet had since reversed that stance.<\/p>\n<p>Hallgrimsson earlier described the encounter as \u201cplaying against genocide\u201d rather than \u201cplaying with genocide,\u201d a comment that drew a sharp rebuke from the Israeli football federation, which accused him of \u201cstupidity, ignorance and hypocrisy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The FAI\u2019s decision to keep the matches on the calendar is also linked to concerns about possible UEFA sanctions. The association argued that a boycott could trigger punitive measures, especially as Ireland is set to co\u2011host Euro\u202f2028 with England, Wales and Scotland.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the away fixture in Hungary, Ireland\u2019s \u201chome\u201d game against Israel, originally scheduled for October\u202f4, has been relocated to a neutral venue in Backa Topola, Serbia, for \u201coperational reasons,\u201d and will be played without spectators. This move follows widespread calls for a boycott and reflects the association\u2019s attempt to balance sporting obligations with public outcry.<\/p>\n<p>As the team prepares for its next competitive encounter against Austria, the situation remains fluid, with further discussions expected among players, officials and the wider Irish community regarding the moral implications of competing against a nation embroiled in a humanitarian crisis.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ireland&#8217;s national team voted to fulfil its UEFA Nations League fixtures against Israel after hours of debate, while reserve goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu quit the squad on moral grounds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[299],"tags":[2457,1482,1399,600,2485],"class_list":["post-2293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-boycott","tag-football","tag-ireland","tag-israel","tag-uefa-nations-league","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}