Gavin Bazunu has released a statement explaining why he has opted to withdraw from the Republic of Ireland squad ahead of tomorrow's match against Israel. The Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper has pulled out of contention for head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson, speaking out against the continuing conflict.
Statement on withdrawal
Bazunu said: "Representing my country means everything to me. I have the utmost respect for every single one of my team-mates, the manager, his staff and the Irish people.
"However I have reached a decision that I have not taken lightly. I am a man of strong faith and try my best to be a person of character and principle therefore I feel it would be wrong to participate in the upcoming fixtures against Israel."
He added: "My decision is based purely upon my personal belief that the killing of innocent people is wrong. It is important to note that my stance is not in opposition of the Israeli people or the Jewish community but against the atrocities in the region."
Squad vote and FAI decision
The UEFA Nations League clash, scheduled to be held at a neutral location in Hungary on Sunday night, was thrown into uncertainty on Saturday when Ireland postponed both their pre-match training session and press conference. It subsequently emerged that members of the Ireland squad were mulling over a boycott of the match following public appeals for them to stand down due to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
Bazunu said: "There are few times where you get a chance in life to stand up for something bigger and I strongly believe that this is one of them.
"Ultimately, within the last 90 minutes we carried out a squad vote on fulfilling the fixtures. A significant majority was the result. The association took the decision to fulfill these fixtures."
The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) confirmed that Sunday's game would go ahead following a vote among Ireland's players on whether to fulfil the fixture. Their statement read: "The Football Association of Ireland confirms that the 2026-27 UEFA Nations League fixtures against Israel will be fulfilled.
"The Association made this decision following consultation with the Republic of Ireland players who shared different views and a majority expressed that the fixtures should be played.
"The Association respects the views of all players involved and appreciates the level of sensitivity concerning these fixtures."
Head coach's response
Head coach Hallgrimsson explained: "We said from the beginning, nobody is comfortable playing this game for so many reasons. Nobody is comfortable with what we decided to play this game together.
"By playing, we are not accepting what is happening. If a player enters the field tomorrow, he's not accepting or supporting or agreeing to anything that's happened in Gaza. That is a statement.
"We are not playing with, we are playing against. And if I can share the feelings of the players and the question about protecting the players, they feel like they are doing something wrong with playing this game with the pressure from Ireland.
"And that's not a good feeling when you have that pressure from your own people that you want to play for. So we just want to make clear we are not supporting anything that's happening in Gaza. We are playing this picture because it's the rules of our game.
"We are playing this picture because it's the rules of the competition we are in. And that's the reason we are here. We want to honour that."
A UN-commissioned inquiry previously found that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in war-torn Gaza. More than 73,000 people have been killed after Israeli military action was launched in response to the Hamas attack on the Nova Festival in southern Israel of October 7, 2023, which killed approximately 1,200 people.
