The Republic of Ireland will fulfil its fixture against Israel in Hungary on Sunday after a squad vote returned a significant majority in favour of playing, but players will wear black armbands and omit parts of the pre-match ceremony to signal their unease. Training on Saturday was delayed for five hours while the squad and staff held extended discussions.
David Courell, the Football Association of Ireland chief executive, said a player informed the head coach of their discomfort and withdrew from the squad. The player was described as being understood to be goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu. Courell said the talks continued for another four hours, mostly among the players, and that the vote recorded a significant majority with the intention to continue.
Courell set out measures the squad agreed to as a way of recognising the wider situation. He said players are to wear black armbands "in recognition of all the lives lost in the conflict," and that there will be "elements of the pre-match ceremony" the Republic of Ireland players will not take part in, specifically the pre-match handshake and the exchange of pennants.
Head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson acknowledged the squad’s discomfort and addressed his own earlier remarks in which he described the team as "playing against genocide." He said he had used a "strong" word and now regretted it, calling it "a wrong word for me to use." Hallgrímsson added that if a player chooses to play, "he is not supporting or agreeing with anything in Gaza," and that "we are not playing with that word, we are playing against it."
At their press conference Israel’s leadership read a statement welcoming Ireland’s decision, saying "What we have seen today is that football has won," and arguing the separation between football and politics should continue. Israel’s head coach Ran Ben-Shimon confirmed "I will shake hands with Hallgrímsson," and Israeli officials said they would take part in all pre-match formalities.
The Israel FA also said it will appeal both yellow cards shown to Saied Abu Farchi in Thursday’s defeat to Austria. Farchi received a second yellow for uprooting the corner flag after scoring an equaliser, an action officials interpreted as mimicking the firing of a rifle. Israel disputes that reading, with a spokesperson saying it was an imitation of a snooker player, "like the legendary Ken Doherty." The match will go ahead on Sunday night in Hungary, with the agreed gestures of unease observed by the Irish squad.
