Pressure to boycott Israel game grows as Ireland preparations stall
Ireland are due to play Israel in the Nations League in Hungary on Sunday, but boycott pressure mounts on and off-field.
The Ireland team’s news conference and training session the day before its first Nations League game against Israel have been delayed as pressure to boycott the matches grows.
Journalists in Debrecen, Hungary – where Israel’s “home” game is to be played Sunday – were left waiting Saturday after being told the news conference was being pushed back until after training. That was 15 minutes before it was supposed to begin.
Training was also significantly delayed, however, with Irish broadcaster RTE reporting the players were still in their hotel more than two hours after the training session was supposed to begin.
Ireland coach Heimir Hallgrimsson previously said “we’re not playing with genocide, we’re playing against genocide. We’re playing against Israel, we’re not playing with Israel” – drawing a furious reaction from the Israeli football federation, which accused the Icelandic coach of “stupidity, ignorance and hypocrisy”.