Irish athletes urge men's soccer team to boycott matches against Israel

More than 160 Irish athletes have signed an open letter requesting the Republic of Ireland's men's soccer team to boycott their upcoming international match against Israel as a diplomatic furore between the two countries continues to grow.The Republic of Ireland is due to play Israel twice over the next few weeks in UEFA Nations League qualifying games — first in Hungary on Sept. 27 and then again in Serbia on Oct. 4. Both games are being played without fans in neutral countries after protests by both players and supporters in Ireland against the civilian death toll of Palestinians in Gaza. 

The activist group Irish Sport for Palestine said Monday in a social media post that more than 160 Irish sportspeople had signed a letter to the Irish senior men's soccer team "urging them to act collectively with conscience & refuse to participate in their upcoming games against Israel."

This comes after the Israeli Football Association slammed Irish head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson for comments he made at a press conference last week. 

Hallgrímsson was asked by reporters whether it would be difficult to keep his players focused on football during the upcoming games against Israel given the public outcry in Ireland. 

"We are not playing with genocide, we are playing against genocide," he said. "We are playing against Israel; we are not playing with Israel."

Those remarks drew a strong rebuke by the Israeli football association in a social media post on Monday.

"We have contributed to the world and humanity in countless fields, earning an impressive number of Nobel Prizes along the way. Unfortunately, we have not yet found a cure for stupidity, ignorance and hypocrisy displayed by @IrelandFootball team coach," the post read. "We're not playing with ignorance, hypocrisy and stupidity, We're playing against the coach who embodies them."

The Irish government has been one of the most vocal critics of the Israeli government in recent years over its military action in Gaza and diplomatic tensions between the two countries have reached a boiling point over the past two years.

Israel shut down its embassy in Dublin in December 2024 over what Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said was the country's "extreme anti-Israel policies."

"The actions and antisemitic rhetoric used by Ireland against Israel are rooted in the de-legitimisation and demonisation of the Jewish state, along with double standards," Saar said in a statement at the time. 

The announcement had followed Ireland's announcement of its support for South Africa's legal action against Israel in the International Court of Justice, which accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinian civilians in Gaza. The Irish government would later formally join South Africa's legal case against Israel at the ICJ. 

Members of the Irish football association also passed a vote last year requesting UEFA, European soccer's governing body, suspend Israel from its competitions. 

But in a statement earlier this summer, members of the Football Association Ireland reiterated the Irish men's soccer team would fulfil its obligations to play Israel in UEFA qualifying games.

"While acknowledging the strength of feeling regarding support for Palestine and the upcoming UEFA Men's Nations League fixtures … the members recognise the profound impact that any non-fulfilment of UEFA fixtures would have on Irish football as a whole and on its future development, and accordingly endorses the Association fulfilling its obligations in respect of those fixtures," the statement said.