The updated report from Gavin Cummiskey:
Summary from Gavin Cummiskey:
The FAI chief executive David Courell has spoke on behalf of the Republic of Ireland squad to confirm the Nations League fixture against Israel at the Nagyerdei Stadium in Debrecen will go ahead on Sunday night following a “significant majority” vote by the Irish players on Friday afternoon.
Gavin Bazunu is the only player to pull out of the game. Ireland players will not fulfil any media duties tomorrow or against Austria in Dublin on October 1st and the “home” game against Israel in Serbia on October 4th.
The players will wear black armbands during the match with profits from the Austria game to be donated to charity.
“Nobody is comfortable playing these games for many reasons,” said Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson. “We are trying to tackle it in the best way we can at the moment.”
Asked by the Israeli media if he regrets saying Israel are “committing genocide,” Hallgrímsson replied: “It is a strong word and the wrong word for me to use. There is a huge support in Europe, with the biggest support in Ireland for Palestine… I felt that pressure growing day by day and it is almost getting to a breaking limit now.”
“By playing we are not accepting what is happening in Gaza. By playing the players are not supporting what is happening in Gaza.”
Hallgrímsson was joined at a rescheduled press conference this afternoon by Courell and the FAI director of football John Martin.
Bazunu informed the squad on Friday that he did not wish to participate in the Israel game.
A spurious question comparing Ireland playing Nazi Germany in 1936 and 1939 and the journalist gets angry when he gets cut off. Hallgrímsson says he doesn’t know what he can say about Ireland playing matches in the 1930s, which is fair.
Hallgrímsson says it is about limiting damage personally and in Irish football and there is no action they will do that will keep everyone happy. He says we don’t know the consequences if we don’t play the game. It’s two choices and both are bad, he says. It’s a situation where you can’t win.
A question from an Israeli journalists of some whataboutery with Qatar. Hallgrímsson said Qatar has changed from the past. He says he’s not going to go into politics.
He is asked about Israel and saying genocide and if he regrets it. He said Ireland has the biggest support for Palestine, there has protest from day one in this fixture. That is the pressure. He says he felt that pressure and it is almost at a breaking limit. He says the banner says “don’t play with genocide” and he says it was a wrong word to use. He says by playing, the players are not accepting what is happening in Gaza. He says he is not supporting what is happening in Gaza, but they are playing because it is the rules of the competition they are in.
David Courell says the players felt uncomfortable dealing with all the questions about football. One of their requests is to remove media obligations for the remainder of the window. They will wear black armbands in memory of victims from the conflict. Certain ceremonial things before the match won’t take place, and the players will make donations towards charitable causes.
Hallgrímsson said they decided to play this game together and tackling it in the best way possible.
Hallgrímsson speaking now: “I don’t think anyone anywhere would understand the pressure on these players.”
He says the team spoke about it in Kosovo, this morning there was a change in mind for one of the players (Bazunu). He says just one player pulled out. All the rest of the players are training today. He said it was an ongoing discussion but the game is going ahead and more discussions tonight and tomorrow.
Fixture will be fulfilled due to “significant majority” following vote of players
Courell says everyone gave their opinion. Ultimately within the past 90 minutes, there was a vote on the sentiment and it was a significantly majority to continue. Based on that, the decision was made to continue the fixture.
Heimir Hallgrímsson, David Courell and John Martin are here in the press conference room.
Courell begins by apologising to the media and says it is a challenging time. Says the squad were in Pristina and an extensive conversation took place and decided to go to Hungary, and consensus was to go play this match.
Overnight, a player decided to withdraw from the squad, another four hours of discussions among the players with coaching staff and executive.
The press conference will start in about five minutes, will be interesting to see what they have to say.
From Gavin Cooney:
Media back at stadium for Irish press conference. FAI yet to officially confirm the game is going ahead. Uefa match delegate tells the Irish Times that she hasn’t had any confirmation from FAI either, but that “they haven’t told me they are not playing”.
Fine Gael TD Barry Ward saying government would have backed FAI if they had said they didn’t want to play the game. 🤯
Might have been an idea to say that before now.
— Neil O’Riordan (@noriordan) September 26, 2026
From Gavin Cummiskey: Ireland’s press conference to take place at 3.30pm Hungary time at the stadium (2.30pm Irish time). Training at 3.45pm.
Update from Gavin Cummiskey: Irish players streaming out of meeting – either a break or over. Professional Footballers’ Association of Ireland (PFA Ireland) offered their services in recent weeks but players decided to deal directly with FAI. The established leaders in Ireland’s squad – Nathan Collins and Séamus Coleman – are not here. Collins got injured with Brentford and Coleman was not selected due to not having a club.
The Israel manager and player press conference is scheduled for 5pm Irish time at the Nagyerdei Stadium.
From Gavin Cummiskey:
“Two other Irish players took similar stand to Bazunu against playing, but – as it stands – the rest of squad intend to go ahead with game, according to a source.”
From Gavin Cooney:
“One source close to a player says the Government should step in and make the decision.”
From Gavin Cummiskey:
FAI CEO David Courell did not attend Kosovo match in Pristina as he was meeting Government ahead of the Budget.
Uefa and Israel FA officials at stadium this morning had no prior knowledge that FAI would pull out of training. FAI “postponed” training at 9.56am Hungary time. The press conference was scheduled for 10.15am. Training 11am.
It is now 1.31pm in Hungary.
Hungarian police and FAI security present off camera. Players are meeting with FAI officials behind a partition on ground floor. Photograph: Gavin Cummiskey
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the build-up to Ireland’s Nations League game against Israel, with the Irish team missing their press conference this morning while they deliberate whether to proceed with the match or not. The game has attracted considerable controversy at home, with the Stop the Game movement advocating for Ireland to boycott the game. The decision was made by the FAI to proceed with the fixture, which is in Debrecen in Hungary for Israel’s ‘home’ game, with Ireland’s home game in Serbia due to security concerns.
Check here for the latest news from Gavin Cooney and Gavin Cummiskey, who are on the ground in Hungary.
The newsline from Gavin Cooney:
The eve of Ireland’s Nations League match against Israel has been thrown into chaos, with the team missing their scheduled training session as they remained locked in lengthy meetings as to whether they should individually proceed with the game.
Gavin Bazunu told the squad last night that he did not wish to participate in the Israel game, with other players understood to be considering whether to join him in withdraing from the game.
The players’ lengthy deliberations led them to miss their press conference and training session at the Nagyerdei stadium in Debrecen. The press conference, scheduled for 10.15am local time, was postponed at just 19 minutes notice. The Irish and Israeli media were assembled at the stadium in Debrecen when the Irish media were informed via WhatsApp message that the press conference would be delayed by up to two hours, and held after the team training session.
The Uefa match delegate was informed of the delay at the same time, and was not given a reason. They ultimately did not turn up for training. The media decamped to outside the team hotel, within which the players were meeting with Heimir Hallgrimsson and the coaching staff. The players had earlier met with FAI CEO David Courell.