The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has confirmed that Sunday's Nations League game against Israel will go ahead, following a vote among the Republic of Ireland players on whether to boycott the fixture.
The match, which will be played at a neutral venue in Hungary, had been the subject of calls for a boycott from campaigners due to the war in Gaza. The team's pre-match press conference and scheduled training session on Saturday morning were both delayed, plunging the game into doubt. Ireland goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu also reportedly indicated that he did not want to play.
Players vote in favour of playing
In a statement on Saturday afternoon, the FAI announced that the clash with Israel will go ahead as scheduled at 7:45pm BST on Sunday. The association said it made the decision after consultation with the players, who shared different views, with a majority expressing that the fixtures should be played.
FAI CEO David Courell said in a 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. Ultimately, within the last maybe 90 minutes, 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. 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."
Financial penalties risk if Ireland refused to play
Failure to play their game against Israel, as well as their second meeting next Sunday in Serbia, would see Ireland risk financial penalties from UEFA. Sunday's match will be played at the Nagyerdei Stadium in Debrecen, Hungary.
Following their 1-0 defeat to Kosovo on Thursday, Ireland midfielder Jason Knight said: "Look, it's difficult. I don't think the game obviously should be going ahead but it is going ahead. 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'm quite experienced. None of us have gone through this scenario before but I'd like to think I'm experienced, thick-skinned and I can get through most things and that is what I will try and do. I'll try and focus on the football as much as I can. I'll give my view and my thoughts on it (the Israel games) when I see fit, but I'll be trying to focus on the football as much as possible."
