Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley has given his support to Drogheda United chairperson and Sinn Féin TD Joanna Byrne, who has been asked to step down by the Louth club following her support for a boycott of the Ireland-Israel fixtures in the Nations League.
Byrne, who is a member of the FAI’s General Assembly which voted in November to ask UEFA to sanction Israel for violating their statutes in relation to the war in Gaza, has said she will not give up her voluntary position.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport this morning Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley said he supports Byrne and said he couldn’t believe that Drogheda’s owners, American investment group Trivela, would try to censor her views.
Bradley believes that Byrne has every right to her opinion and says that we are in very damaged territory if employers believe they can censor people’s opinion.
On the wider issue of whether the FAI should consider boycotting the Nations League fixture against Israel Bradley believes that the decision should have been taken out of their hands but believes strongly that Israel should not be in the competition.
“It should have been taken out of players’, and the FAI’s hand, it hasn’t been.
“I would love to see them boycott the game. Some things are bigger than football. Genocide is bigger than football and sometimes you have got to make a decision and live with the consequences”
“And if it was us I would be asking the board, I don’t think we should play them.
“Israel shouldn’t be in the competition. But they are, which is wrong. The FAI are in a no win situation. The players and staff.
“It’s easy for me to stand here and say what I’m saying. I’m not directly impacted by it, but I genuinely believe and I will always say some things are bigger than football. What’s going on is wrong.”
Last November at an FAI EGM in Dublin a motion citing Israel’s breach of UEFA statutes and calling for their suspension from European football competitions was passed by 74 votes to seven.
A UN commission of inquiry report found that Israel had committed genocide during the war in Gaza and the motion highlighted two breaches of UEFA laws, violations which Israel disputes.