{"id":471246,"date":"2026-05-28T12:19:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T12:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/471246\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T12:19:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T12:19:08","slug":"i-am-a-dad-ive-got-a-heart-seamus-coleman-angry-israel-issue-left-to-players-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/471246\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I am a dad, I\u2019ve got a heart\u2019: S\u00e9amus Coleman angry Israel issue left to players \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a press conference intended to preview Thursday night\u2019s friendly against Qatar<\/a> was overshadowed by questions on the Nations League<\/a> game against Israel in Dublin on October 4th, Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson<\/a> could not conceal how impressed he was by S\u00e9amus Coleman\u2019s<\/a> approach to a controversy that is beginning to dominate the discourse around Irish football.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t need to answer questions on Israel,\u201d said the Republic of Ireland manager. \u201cJust hear S\u00e9amus.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Hallgr\u00edmsson did<\/a> address the \u2018Stop The Game\u2019 protest against Israel\u2019s genocide in Gaza. The Icelandic coach stood over his comments from last October, when he failed to understand why Russia was banned by Fifa and Uefa for invading Ukraine in February 2022, yet the Israeli FA have avoided sanction from football\u2019s governing bodies.<\/p>\n

Coleman stopped short of calling for the FAI to refuse to fulfil the fixtures against Israel \u2013 at a neutral venue on September 27th and the Aviva Stadium on October 4th \u2013 but he is dismayed that his manager and teammates have to regularly speak on the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy views are very clear on the fact that Nathan [Collins]<\/a>, the younger players and the manager, that this should not have landed on our toes to answer questions about this. It should have been dealt with above us,\u201d said Coleman.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a dad, I am a husband, I\u2019ve got a heart, I know the difference between right and wrong. If I was to ask you the same question, it would be the same opinion, yeah?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is awful what is happening, it is extremely sad, but I don\u2019t think we should be in this very difficult position. Absolutely not. It is very uncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collins said this week that the players have to trust the FAI and the Irish Government to make the correct moral decision over playing Israel in a competitive international game.<\/p>\n

Back in March, FAI chief executive David Courell noted that the association is taking their lead from the Government.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s ongoing developments on the international geopolitical sphere, that is a matter for the Irish State,\u201d said Courell. \u201cAs things stand, there are no sanctions against the Israeli state. The decision whether or not these fixtures are fulfilled rests with us and we continue to maintain that they will be fulfilled.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SéamusS\u00e9amus Coleman during training at the FAI National Training Centre in Dublin ahead of Thursday’s friendly against Qatar. Photograph: Ryan Byrne\/Inpho <\/p>\n

When approached for an update on the match going ahead in Dublin on October 4th, the FAI responded: \u201cNothing has changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coleman believes the FAI or Uefa should do more to ensure that every Ireland media session between now and September is not dominated by the Israel issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like it should not have landed on 22-, 23-, 24-year-old lads that are here to play for their country. We represent our country, the people of Ireland, and we\u2019ve got to take that into account, what their opinion is on it as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not straightforward either. That is the human side, which is so, so important.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt should not be on our toes. There is the football side, the sanctions and everything that comes with it. It is very difficult for us players, the manager and all the staff that we are dealing with this.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know our feelings as human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Returning to matters strictly football, Coleman \u2013 who turns 38 in October \u2013 is currently weighing up his career options. His 17-year association with Everton is over following his decision to turn down a coaching role at the club. The right back wants to see how his body copes in Ireland\u2019s friendlies against Qatar on Thursday and against Canada in Montreal on June 6th. <\/p>\n

After the game against Canada, he will go on holiday with his wife Rachel and three children, before seeing what clubs are interested in signing him so he can continue to stay sharp enough to feature at Euro 2028.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think [playing on] is fully nailed on yet. I want to see how I feel in these games and see what opportunities are out there. But, of course, the carrot of playing for Ireland at the Euros is unbelievable.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would I give up the possibility of a few more caps when the 17-year-old me would never turn down a cap for Ireland?\u201d<\/p>\n

On the possibility of one day returning to Everton in a coaching capacity, he added: \u201cI don\u2019t think me and Everton are finished but it might be good for me to go and experience new things.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a press conference intended to preview Thursday night\u2019s friendly against Qatar was overshadowed by questions on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471247,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,4700,43,1842,48229,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-471246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-heimir-hallgrimsson","tag-news","tag-republic-of-ireland-mnt","tag-seamus-coleman","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}