Summary from Gavin Cummiskey:<\/p>\n
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 \u201csignificant majority\u201d vote by the Irish players on Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n
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 \u201chome\u201d game against Israel in Serbia on October 4th.<\/p>\n
The players will wear black armbands during the match with profits from the Austria game to be donated to charity.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody is comfortable playing these games for many reasons,\u201d said Ireland manager Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson. \u201cWe are trying to tackle it in the best way we can at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked by the Israeli media if he regrets saying Israel are \u201ccommitting genocide,\u201d Hallgr\u00edmsson replied: \u201cIt 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\u2026 I felt that pressure growing day by day and it is almost getting to a breaking limit now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy playing we are not accepting what is happening in Gaza. By playing the players are not supporting what is happening in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hallgr\u00edmsson was joined at a rescheduled press conference this afternoon by Courell and the FAI director of football John Martin. <\/p>\n
Bazunu informed the squad on Friday that he did not wish to participate in the Israel game.<\/p>\n
A spurious question comparing Ireland playing Nazi Germany in 1936 and 1939 and the journalist gets angry when he gets cut off. Hallgr\u00edmsson says he doesn\u2019t know what he can say about Ireland playing matches in the 1930s, which is fair.<\/p>\n
Hallgr\u00edmsson 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\u2019t know the consequences if we don\u2019t play the game. It\u2019s two choices and both are bad, he says. It\u2019s a situation where you can\u2019t win.<\/p>\n
A question from an Israeli journalists of some whataboutery with Qatar. Hallgr\u00edmsson said Qatar has changed from the past. He says he\u2019s not going to go into politics.<\/p>\n
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 \u201cdon\u2019t play with genocide\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019t take place, and the players will make donations towards charitable causes.<\/p>\n
Hallgr\u00edmsson said they decided to play this game together and tackling it in the best way possible.<\/p>\n
Hallgr\u00edmsson speaking now: \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone anywhere would understand the pressure on these players.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Fixture will be fulfilled due to \u201csignificant majority\u201d following vote of players<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson, David Courell and John Martin are here in the press conference room.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Overnight, a player decided to withdraw from the squad, another four hours of discussions among the players with coaching staff and executive.<\/p>\n
The press conference will start in about five minutes, will be interesting to see what they have to say. <\/p>\n
From Gavin Cooney:<\/p>\n
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\u2019t had any confirmation from FAI either, but that \u201cthey haven\u2019t told me they are not playing\u201d.<\/p>\n
Fine Gael TD Barry Ward saying government would have backed FAI if they had said they didn’t want to play the game. \ud83e\udd2f<\/p>\n
Might have been an idea to say that before now.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Neil O’Riordan (@noriordan) September 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n From Gavin Cummiskey: Ireland\u2019s press conference to take place at 3.30pm Hungary time at the stadium (2.30pm Irish time). Training at 3.45pm.<\/p>\n Update from Gavin Cummiskey: Irish players streaming out of meeting – either a break or over. Professional Footballers\u2019 Association of Ireland (PFA Ireland) offered their services in recent weeks but players decided to deal directly with FAI. The established leaders in Ireland\u2019s squad – Nathan Collins and S\u00e9amus Coleman – are not here. Collins got injured with Brentford and Coleman was not selected due to not having a club.<\/p>\n The Israel manager and player press conference is scheduled for 5pm Irish time at the Nagyerdei Stadium.<\/p>\n From Gavin Cummiskey:<\/p>\n \u201cTwo 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.\u201d<\/p>\n From Gavin Cooney:<\/p>\n \u201cOne source close to a player says the Government should step in and make the decision.\u201d<\/p>\n From Gavin Cummiskey:<\/p>\n FAI CEO David Courell did not attend Kosovo match in Pristina as he was meeting Government ahead of the Budget. <\/p>\n Uefa and Israel FA officials at stadium this morning had no prior knowledge that FAI would pull out of training. FAI \u201cpostponed\u201d training at 9.56am Hungary time. The press conference was scheduled for 10.15am. Training 11am.<\/p>\n It is now 1.31pm in Hungary.<\/p>\n Hello and welcome to live coverage of the build-up to Ireland\u2019s 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\u2019s \u2018home\u2019 game, with Ireland\u2019s home game in Serbia due to security concerns.<\/p>\n Check here for the latest news from Gavin Cooney and Gavin Cummiskey, who are on the ground in Hungary.<\/p>\n The newsline from Gavin Cooney:<\/p>\n![\"Hungarian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/UAAQSAE3HVDRRHV5KNEOPVVPAA.jpeg\")
Hungarian police and FAI security present off camera. Players are meeting with FAI officials behind a partition on ground floor. Photograph: Gavin Cummiskey <\/p>\n