Republic of Ireland and Israel players once again refused to shake hands ahead of their UEFA Nations League clash on Sunday evening. The two sides met for the second time in the space of a week, following Ireland's commanding 3-0 win over Israel seven days ago.
Anthem protest and armbands
Ireland's players once more bowed their heads during the Israeli national anthem as a show of protest, while two different captains from last week's encounter — Caoimhin Kelleher and Dor Peretz — decided not to shake hands following the coin toss.
It was confirmed prior to kick-off that Israel would be wearing black armbands in tribute to those who lost their lives in the October 7 attacks, after UEFA granted their request to do so. Ireland also wore black armbands "in recognition of all the lives lost in the conflict" in the Middle East.
Press conference disruption
Scenes descended into chaos at Saturday's pre-match press conference when Heimir Hallgrímsson was quizzed about the incident earlier in the week aboard a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, in which the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the pilot and attempted to bring the aircraft down.
The FAI press officer intervened, stating that the Ireland manager would only be fielding football-related questions, before Hallgrímsson was then asked whether Finn Azaz would be named in the starting XI. He responded by saying: "You will see the starting line up tomorrow. I'm not going to give the media the starting line up."
An Israeli journalist subsequently alleged that a racial slur had been directed at an Israeli player during last Sunday's fixture, a claim the FAI press officer flatly denied, stating "that is not true", before bringing the press conference to a close. The Israeli reporter pushed back, saying: "This is a press conference, we have been invited to ask questions."
