Boycott of Israeli matches ‘may have no impact at all’, says Taoiseach
By Gráinne Ní Aodha, Press Association
A boycott of two matches against Israel in the autumn may have “no impact at all” on Fifa or Israel, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.
The Republic of Ireland is scheduled to face Israel in two UEFA Nations League fixtures at a neutral venue on September 27th and in Dublin on October 4th.
Paul Weller, Stephen Rea, members of Kneecap and current and former football players have signed an open letter to the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) calling on them to boycott upcoming matches against Israel.
Two sports ministers have said they will not attend the match in Dublin, but said the Government had not sought legal advice about what potential sanctions the FAI might face if they were not to go ahead with the fixtures.
At a friendly match in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin last night, some fans threw tennis balls with the words Stop The Game on the pitch in protest.
Asked about the incident and whether the matches should go ahead, the Taoiseach said: “We don’t want to damage ourselves unnecessarily.
“In other words, concede six points to Israel, our ranking goes down. Irish football has been on an upward curve of late, and so on that side, you don’t want to be self-defeating in terms of any actions. The Government doesn’t run FIFA.
There is no argument about Ireland’s opposition to what Israel has been doing in Gaza, and everything shouldn’t be reduced to just one match in terms of the articulation of that opposition
“The Government has been very clear, as indeed have the Irish people, in terms of our opposition to the genocide in Gaza, and the appalling behaviour of the violent settlers who have been facilitated by the Israeli government in the West Bank and by the appalling attacks in Lebanon, and Irish Unifil troops have been consistently endeavouring to preserve the peace and have been supportive of local communities in terms of how to survive the terrible attacks on villages and on their community lives.
“There is no argument about Ireland’s opposition to what Israel has been doing in Gaza, and everything shouldn’t be reduced to just one match in terms of the articulation of that opposition or protesting about the Israeli government’s behaviour in Gaza itself.
“The full implications of, say, if the Irish team unilaterally decided to pull out, the full implications of that in terms of Irish football need to be worked out.
“There’s a presumption that if they did, some of that would impact on Fifa, it may have no impact at all on Fifa, or indeed on Israel, for that matter.”
