The Republic of Ireland’s soccer team is set to face Israel twice this year in the UEFA Nations League, but former coach Brian Kerr believes the Irish should refuse to play the games
Brian Kerr has made his feelings clear(Image: Virgin Media)
Former Republic of Ireland soccer coach Brian Kerr is urging the FAI – the governing body of Irish soccer – to demonstrate “a real bit of balls” by refusing to face Israel in this year’s UEFA Nations League.
The draw placed Ireland in the same group as Israel, sparking calls from figures across sports and politics for the FAI to boycott the games. Yet the association wasted no time after Thursday’s draw in confirming it would honor the scheduled matches.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin backed this stance, stating the games “should go ahead” and praising the FAI’s choice. But former Ireland manager Brian Kerr is firmly opposed to both the FAI’s position and the Fianna Fail leader’s view, urging them to think again.
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“In the situation they’re in now with this straw, I think they could show a real bit of – if I could use a colloquialism – a real bit of balls and refuse to play Israel,” he said on Virgin Media.
“They should stand up, in my view, for the Palestinian state, the Palestinian people, and the Palestinian football organization, who have not been able to play games at home for years, but have also lost huge numbers of footballers during the war that was waged on them in Gaza.
“They’ve lost their football grounds. Israel has at least six teams playing on ground and in stadiums that were previously the land of the Palestinian state. And there’s been no real punishment for that.”
Brian Kerr during his time in charge of the Irish soccer team(Image: Getty Images)
He went on: “I’m talking about football. I’m talking about on football grounds. UEFA would be within their rights to penalize the Israeli Football Association and the Israeli clubs.
“I mean, they eventually under pressure from a lot of people, they stood up against Russia because of the war in Ukraine, belatedly, it must be said.
“And this is a situation where I think if the FAI took the lead and Ireland took the lead, that other countries… I’m looking at that draw with Austria and Kosovo. Kosovo came out of the Balkans war back in 1999.
“Ireland refused, the government refused to give visas, I understand it for the Yugoslavian team to come and play here in international football at that time when the war was going on. So they were prepared to make a bit of a stand. And now the Irish government say, well, we don’t want to mix politics.
“I heard the minister on the radio today saying that you can’t mix sport and politics … I think that’s complete baloney and a real sit on the fence job, and I think this whole situation in Palestine and Israel has been far too serious for people to just say, ‘Oh well, you must separate sport and politics, and it’s nothing to do with, for instance, Israeli Football Association.’
“We saw previously with the basketball association, they wanted to try to make a stand, but the organisation of European basketball put the pressure on them to play the match. The matches were played in neutral territory and all that, saves the security issues.
“But I think UEFA could back the FAI if they were strong enough on it.”
Ireland is due to travel to face Israel away from home on September 27, with the return game scheduled for October 4. Israel has indicated its desire to resume hosting home ties on its own soil, having previously staged home matches in Hungary amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza.