the statement<\/a> began.<\/p>\n![\"ireland](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/3470491.jpg\")
Pic: Stephen McCarthy\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n
\u2018Following consultation with various stakeholders, the Association is of the view that operational challenges could impact on the delivery of the game on home soil, so the fixture will be played away from the Aviva Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u2018The Association understands and respects the views expressed by players and staff, supporters, its members, campaigners, members of the public and the Irish footballing community in relation to this fixture.\u2019<\/p>\n
The Association confirmed that it had been in contact with the Palestine Football Association, with the PFA saying that it \u2018affirms its respect for the decision made by the Football Association of Ireland within the framework of its sporting and international obligations, in a manner that enables it to continue fulfilling its noble mission of serving football and promoting the values of justice, solidarity, and mutual respect.\u2019<\/p>\n
The FAI acknowledge the motion they brought forward late last year to have Israel suspended from UEFA competitions, but under the current competition rules that they have signed up for, they have to play the game. \u2018The Association is deeply conscious of the suffering and devastation being endured by civilians in Gaza and continues to reflect the sentiment of the motion that was proposed and voted in favour of by members of the FAI General Assembly in November 2025.<\/p>\n
![\"stop](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ireland-show-israel-red-card.jpg\")
Pic: David Fitzgerald\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n
\u2018This motion was to issue a formal request to the UEFA Executive Committee for the immediate suspension of the Israel Football Association from UEFA competitions for a breach of UEFA statutes.<\/p>\n
\u2018While the Association submitted that motion to UEFA and has consulted with UEFA officials for almost two years on this issue, it does recognise that the UEFA competition rules and regulations that the Association agreed to. <\/p>\n
\u2018These outline that if an association refuses to play a match then that fixture will be forfeited and further disciplinary measures may follow \u2013 including potential disqualification from the competition.\u2019<\/p>\n
The FAI listed that the immediate punishment for boycotting the game would be: \u2018The forfeiture of six points (which could lead to relegation to League C in the UEFA Nations League and weaken our qualifying potential for UEFA EURO 2028), a direct impact on Ireland\u2019s UEFA and FIFA rankings (which would affect future qualification to UEFA European Championships and FIFA World Cups) and the converse of these impacts would apply for Israel (which would increase their prospects of promotion in the UEFA Nations League and qualification to UEFA EURO 2028).\u2019<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FAI.jpg\")
Pic: Stephen McCarthy\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n
They said that they felt these measures would have a serious impact on the future of football in Ireland.<\/p>\n
\u2018Beyond the sporting implications, there would be broader consequences for Irish football, such as reduced capacity to support clubs and leagues through critical services such as safeguarding, educational programmes, and player development opportunities. <\/p>\n
\u2018Also, the impact on Ireland international teams could result in the withdrawal of underage teams and a reduction in the level of support and services provided to players & staff.\u2019<\/p>\n
They ended the over 700-word statement by saying: \u2018The FAI Board would like to reiterate that its decision to fulfil the fixture has been made in the interest of Irish football.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The FAI have confirmed that UEFA has approved their request for Ireland\u2019s match against Israel to be moved…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496060,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-496059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496059","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=496059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}