{"id":496709,"date":"2026-06-12T21:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T21:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/496709\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T21:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T21:30:09","slug":"confirmation-of-neutral-venue-for-ireland-israel-match-prompts-criticism-from-opposition-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/496709\/","title":{"rendered":"Confirmation of neutral venue for Ireland-Israel match prompts criticism from Opposition \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The announcement that one of the Republic of Ireland\u2019s upcoming matches against Israel<\/a> will be played at a neutral venue behind closed doors has prompted sharp criticism from Opposition politicians.<\/p>\n

The Football Association of Ireland<\/a> (FAI) initially planned to host the home leg of the two Nations League games against Israel in Dublin but in a statement on Friday it cited \u201coperational challenges\u201d in its decision to move the fixture.<\/p>\n

Opposition parties had demanded the Government step in to seek to stop the two matches the Republic is due to play against Israel due to the war in Gaza<\/a> and Israel\u2019s illegal settlements on Palestinian<\/a> land.<\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in<\/a> tabled a D\u00e1il<\/a> motion earlier this week calling on the Government<\/a> to support a boycott of the games, while the Social Democrats<\/a> called for Israel\u2019s exclusion from all international sporting fixtures. <\/p>\n

Both motions were defeated with the Government insisting in D\u00e1il countermotions that the issue was a matter solely for the FAI.<\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in sport spokeswoman Joanna Byrne responded to the decision to opt for a neutral venue for the \u2018home\u2019 game accusing the Government and the FAI of \u201ccowardice\u201d. <\/p>\n

Her statement criticised the Government for voting down Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s motion as she argued that the party\u2019s proposal would have provided a \u201cclear road map for the FAI to do the right thing\u201d.<\/p>\n

Labour Party<\/a> foreign affairs spokesman Duncan Smith said: \u201cChanging the venue for the game is a cop out. We need to stop the game and be brave enough to walk away from the fixture. Too many lives have been lost as a direct consequence of the genocide Israel has waged on Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ireland to play \u2018home\u2019 match against Israel at neutral venue behind closed doorsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Green Party leader Roderic O\u2019Gorman<\/a> said: \u201cThese 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its statement announcing the decision on the match being played in a neutral venue, the FAI said failure to play the game would result in the forfeiture of six points, which could lead to the relegation in the Nations League. This would conversely improve Israel\u2019s chances of promotion and qualifying for Euro 2028. <\/p>\n

The FAI\u2019s statement included a message from the Palestinian Football Association saying it expresses its appreciation for the \u201cprincipled positions\u201d taken by the FAI \u201cin support of the rights of the Palestinian people and Palestinian athletes\u201d. The Palestinian Football Association message said it \u201caffirms its respect for the decision\u201d made by the FAI in relation to the forthcoming matches.<\/p>\n

The FAI statement also said: \u201cThe association is deeply conscious of the suffering and devastation being endured by civilians in Gaza\u201d. It highlighted a motion passed by members of the FAI general assembly in November 2025 to issue a formal request to the Uefa<\/a> executive committee for the immediate suspension of the Israel Football Association from Uefa competitions.<\/p>\n

Minister for Culture and Sport Patrick O\u2019Donovan<\/a> said it has been a \u201cvery difficult time\u201d for the FAI and its decision was \u201cpragmatic\u201d. <\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters on Friday he said the rules of the tournament are laid down by Uefa and the consequences are that if the Ireland was not to fulfil the obligation to play \u201cironically it would be the other team would be the principal beneficiary of it\u201d. <\/p>\n

On the possibility that the players may face calls not to participate in the matches, O\u2019Donovan appealed to people \u201cpiling pressure\u201d on FAI officials or the players not to.<\/p>\n

Asked if RT\u00c9<\/a> should still broadcast the game or if should not show it as happened with Eurovision this year due to Israel\u2019s participation, O\u2019Donovan said: \u201cIt\u2019s entirely a matter for RT\u00c9 and for the director general\u201d and people would be \u201clevitating up and down with fake anger\u201d if he was to offer an opinion.<\/p>\n

Minister of State for Sport Charlie McConalogue<\/a> said he welcomed the FAI\u2019s decision on the match and said he hopes it can be respected.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, he highlighted the forthcoming 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles as potentially affected by a wider sporting boycott.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The announcement that one of the Republic of Ireland\u2019s upcoming matches against Israel will be played at a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,7038,43],"class_list":["post-496709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-irish-politics","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496709","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=496709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}