The Football Association of Ireland has accused the Republic of Ireland's head coach, Heimir Hallgrímsson, of 'ignorance, hypocrisy and stupidity' following comments he made last week, the BBC reports. The football body responded to the comments on social media on Monday.
Hallgrímsson, while announcing the squad for the upcoming matches, said: 'We are not playing against genocide, we are playing against genocide. We are playing against Israel, not with Israel.' The Israeli federation stated: 'Unfortunately, we have not yet found a cure for the stupidity, ignorance and hypocrisy shown by coach @IrelandFootball's team.' They added: 'We are not playing against ignorance, hypocrisy and stupidity, we are playing against the coach who embodies them.' The Irish Football Association did not respond to the comments made by the Israeli FA.
The protest also took place at the Republic of Ireland's hotel on Monday evening. More than 160 athletes signed an open letter from Irish Sport for Palestine calling for a boycott of matches against Israel. The letter states that the FAI, UEFA and the Irish government should have intervened before this stage, and states: 'This is a significant moment and with this moment you have the opportunity to do the right thing.'
Among the signatories are Olympian Ciara Mageean, former Republic of Ireland international Louise Quinn, and former Irish rugby fly-half Tony Ward, who boycotted the Irish rugby tour of South Africa, as well as boxers Tyrone McKenna and Eric Donovan. The letter was also signed by GAA figures Pádraig Ó Hóra, Joe Brolly, Colm O'Rourke, Michael Darragh Macauley, Pádraig McMahon, Valerie Mulcahy and Rena Buckley, as well as parathlete Alan Dineen and Stephen Jones from ultimate frisbee, both of whom boycotted matches against Israel earlier this year.
The Republic of Ireland are due to play against Israel on 27 September in Hungary, with the return leg due to take place in Serbia on 4 October. In July, the FAI's general meeting supported a proposal that the Republic of Ireland continue with upcoming League of Nations matches against Israel, with 75 votes in favour, 32 against and three abstentions out of 114 delegates. The FAI previously stated that a boycott of matches would cause 'significant and lasting damage' to Irish football, with a potential loss of €10.3m (£9m) in revenue.
Hallgrímsson stated that he had spoken to players in his squad individually about the prospect of facing Israel, and that 'none of us feel comfortable playing these matches'. League of Nations matches are the first competitive action for the Republic of Ireland following their defeat in the play-off semi-final against the Czech Republic in March. Following the defeat in Prague, they have played four friendly matches, defeating Grenada and Qatar, and drawing with North Macedonia and Canada.
Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, following which Israel launched a massive military offensive in Gaza. The United Nations estimates that the retaliation has killed over 70,000 Palestinians. Israel has consistently denied committing genocide or war crimes, stating that its actions in Gaza are justified as self-defence.
