Ireland Players Vote to Face Israel After Goalkeeper's Boycott

By a large majority, the Republic of Ireland squad decided on Saturday to proceed with their UEFA Nations League match against Israel in Debrecen, Hungary, one day after goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu pulled out of the team to protest the war in Gaza.¹²³

Bazunu's withdrawal

Bazunu, the Republic of Ireland goalkeeper, announced on Instagram that he was leaving the squad, saying his decision was rooted in personal belief rather than opposition to any community. "My decision is based purely upon my personal belief that the killing of innocent people is wrong," he said.¹³⁶

He said the choice had not come lightly. "However I have reached a decision that I have not taken lightly," Bazunu said, adding that representing his country "means everything" to him and that he retained "the utmost respect" for his teammates and the coaching staff.¹³⁶

Bazunu described himself as guided by faith and conscience. "I am a man of strong faith and try my best to be a person of character and principle," he said, adding, "I feel it would be wrong to participate in the upcoming fixtures against Israel." He said his stance was not directed at Israeli people or the Jewish community but at what he called atrocities in the region, a characterisation not verified independently in the dossier.¹²³⁵

He framed the decision as a rare opportunity to take a stand. "There are few times where you get a chance in life to stand up for something bigger," he said, "I strongly believe that this is one of them." The Football Association of Ireland said Bazunu had not been among the 30 players it contacted about their views on playing Israel before being called up.⁶

The vote and planned gestures

The Football Association of Ireland's chief executive, David Courell, confirmed that one player had withdrawn and that a significant majority of the squad had voted to proceed with the match. He said the lengthy discussions followed one player raising doubts: "a player expressed their discomfort with fulfilling this fixture to the head coach and indicated their intent to withdraw from the squad."¹⁶

Manager Heimir Hallgrimsson said the fixture would go ahead and described the circumstances facing the squad as a "situation you can't win." He said nobody could fully understand the pressure the players were under, and confirmed that all remaining squad members were training.¹⁴⁵

Players said they intend to wear black armbands "in recognition of all lives lost in the [Gaza] conflict" during both the Hungary match on Sunday and the reverse fixture in Serbia, and plan to skip certain portions of the pre-match ceremony. They also requested to be excused from media commitments for the rest of the international window and said they plan to donate a substantial share of the match fees earned from the Israel and Austria games to charity.¹²³⁴

Ireland midfielder Jason Knight said he did not believe the game should be going ahead, a view expressed after the team's opening Nations League loss in Kosovo.¹²

Background to the fixture

The matches have been contested since Ireland and Israel were drawn together in Group B3, amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza war. According to the dossier, the conflict traces back to Hamas's assault on Israel on 7 October 2023, in which roughly 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, prompting Israel to begin a major military campaign in Gaza. More than 73,000 people have since been killed in Gaza during the offensive, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures the dossier says are considered reliable by the United Nations.¹

The Football Association of Ireland had previously brought a motion to UEFA seeking Israel's exclusion from international football competitions; UEFA did not pass it, leaving the FAI obliged to fulfil the fixture. A spokesperson for the Irish government said decisions on the fixture rested with the FAI and UEFA. Ireland's home leg was moved to a neutral venue with no fans present, and the return match location shifted to Serbia.¹²

Calls for a boycott gathered momentum through the Stop The Game campaign, organised by Irish Sport for Palestine, and were backed by figures including Brian Kerr and James McClean. An open letter calling on the FAI to reconsider the fixtures gathered signatures from over 160 Irish sportspeople, demonstrators assembled outside the squad's Dublin hotel, and a SIPTU banner in the city centre encouraged players to act according to their conscience.¹²

A tense Saturday

There was real doubt on Saturday morning over whether the match would take place. A pre-match news conference scheduled for 09:15 BST was postponed 15 minutes before it was due to start, as players remained locked in a meeting at their hotel following Bazunu's withdrawal and concerns raised by others. A further player expressed discomfort and intent to withdraw, adding a new variable that led to another four hours of discussion.¹

Players began leaving the meeting room at about 13:00, and the news conference was confirmed to go ahead at Nagyerdei Stadion at 14:30. UEFA had not replied when asked to comment on that day's events.¹²

Shlomi Barzel, the Israel Football Association's head of communications, praised Ireland's choice to go ahead with the match, remarking that "football has won," and maintained that sport and politics ought to stay separate. Israel's head coach, Ran Ben-Shimon, was present at Israel's own news conference for questions relating to the game. In a separate matter, the Israel Football Association announced intentions to contest two yellow cards, one of which amounted to a red card, given to Sayed Abu Farhi during Israel's game against Austria.¹⁵