UEFA has approved the Israel Football Association’s request for the national team to wear black armbands in Sunday’s match against Ireland in memory of those murdered in the October 7 massacre, the Israel Football Association announced on X/Twitter.
The decision comes amid immense friction between the two associations, as Ireland’s football association, its players, and more than 160 Irish sportspeople urged a boycott of the both games over the Israel-Hamas War in Gaza.
According to UEFA rules, black armbands are reserved for universally recognized tragedies, periods of national mourning, or the passing of prominent football figures, and require prior approval from the soccer association.
The Irish national soccer team wore black armbands and declined to shake hands with Israeli players during their first match on September 27 in Debrecen, Hungary.
The Irish players also avoided the traditional post-match handshakes and pleasantries, leaving the pitch immediately after the final whistle in what appeared to be a protest against playing the Israeli team.
Tensions surrounding the matches carried over into Saturday’s pre-match press conference, which ended abruptly after a heated exchange between Irish head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson and Israeli journalists over allegations of racist abuse involving Irish players.
One journalist asked, “What do you say about the people that you support? Their ideology is based on murder… Just this week, one of them tried to kill 170 Israeli passengers, including 27 innocent children and thousands of others,” prompting an Irish press officer to respond, “We are not doing any questions like this today. We are doing football questions.”
Hallgrimsson declined to respond when a second journalist asked why Irish players “call our players monkeys during the [previous] match.”
The journalist’s microphone was taken away immediately after the question, and Hallgrimsson then left the room.
Tobias Holcman contributed to this report.