Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has labelled the FAI’s decision to move Ireland’s upcoming men’s football international against Israel to a neutral venue as “cowardly”.
Ms McDonald added that “it was never about the location of the game” and urged the Government and the FAI to “do the right thing”.
“I think it’s unconscionable that this game would go ahead and the campaign will continue,” she said, calling the FAI’s decision “cowardly”.
She said this match is “about so much more than sport”.
“It’s not simply a football match, it’s about confronting, facing down, and making clear to Netanyahu and his regime that he cannot slaughter, he cannot slaughter wholesale the entire Palestinian population, and expect the world to watch on and not take action against him,” said Ms McDonald.
Minister for Sport Patrick O’Donovan said the Government supports the FAI’s decision to move its UEFA Nations League home match against Israel to a neutral country.
Watch: McDonald says FAI going ahead with Israel match at neutral venue ‘cowardly’
Mr O’Donovan claimed that Ireland would have been the “big losers” if the FAI had decided to boycott the match.
Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One, he added that Ireland would be forfeiting six points and there would be a “direct impact” on the team’s FIFA world ranking.
“The net result … is it would have actually have made it quite easier for Israel, which would be the converse of I think (of what) an awful lot of people said.
“The converse would be that Israel would actually be the main beneficiary of it,” he said.
Mr O’Donovan added: “The FAI have obviously taken a considerable period of time to do this.
“They brought a motion to UEFA … that was rejected and I think if they have had done anything other than what they have done at the moment, they would be the people that would be penalised.”
RTÉ says it does ‘not have discretion’ not to broadcast matches
Responding to calls from both Sinn Féin and the Labour party that RTÉ should not broadcast the Ireland-Israel fixtures, RTÉ said via a statement the broadcaster has “a contractual obligation”.
RTÉ said refusing to broadcast the matches would result in breach of contract “jeopardising RTÉ’s existing rights, and also impacting negatively on RTÉ’s sports rights acquisition activities into the future”.
Regarding comparisons being made with the RTÉ decision not to participate or show the Eurovision Song contest because Israel was taking part, the broadcaster said its had “full agency in its decision not to participate in or broadcast” that event but it does not have discretion to decide not to broadcast these matches.
Minister for Sport Patrick O’Donovan said the Government supports the FAI’s decision
Changing the venue a ‘cop out’
Labour foreign affairs spokesperson Duncan Smith described changing the venue for the game as a “cop out”.
He called on the FAI to take a “principled stance”, one “which the majority of the Irish people and sporting community are in agreement with”.
The Labour TD said the statement wraps the decision behind this move in terms of “consequences for Irish football”.
However, Mr Smith said, “the consequences of Irish football being complicit in genocide are far greater”.
“This is about integrity, standing up for what is right and rejecting the genocidal actions of the state of Israel.
“We need to stop the game and be brave enough to walk away from the fixture,” he said.
Green Party Leader Roderic O’Gorman said the decision to play the game at a neutral venue only put the burden back on players and staff.
“These fixtures should not be played at all. Out of sight is not out of mind. This decision to play this game at a neutral venue puts the burden back on the players and the staff of the FAI. This unfair, and ultimately financial decision, to let a game that the fans do not want, to go ahead, is nothing more than sportswashing.”
Speaking outside Leinster House, Mary Lou McDonald also said a “genocide is occurring” and “tens of thousands of people have lost their lives, including footballers”.
She said Russia has been “sanctioned and excluded from sporting events because of their behaviour and asked why would therebe an exception be for Israel.
Her colleague, Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan said campaign is to stop the game being played not move the game. She said the FAI decison “denies those who feel so passionately about this from having the right to protest at the game.”