The Republic of Ireland will play Israel in the Nations League this weekend despite mounting calls from players, supporters and more than 160 Irish sportspeople for the fixture to be cancelled.
The match will take place in Debrecen, Hungary, on Sunday (27 September) with no Irish supporters present. The return fixture is scheduled for 4 October in Backa Topola, Serbia, and will also be played behind closed doors.
Ireland’s players are expected to discuss their position as a group after Jason Knight became the first member of the squad to publicly oppose the game.
“I don’t think the game should be going ahead but it is going ahead,” Knight said after Ireland’s defeat by Kosovo. “We’ll have a deeper talk about it and what that means, we’ll get our thoughts as a group and go from there.”
An open letter from the Irish Sport for Palestine Group has called on the team to “act collectively with conscience” and refuse to participate.
The signatories include former Ireland international Louise Quinn, rugby players Tony Ward and Lynne Cantwell, Olympian Ciara Mageean and prominent GAA figures.
“This is a significant moment and with this moment you have an opportunity to do the right thing,” the letter states. “Not playing the game would be the most sporting thing you could do.”
The campaigners accuse the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), UEFA and the Irish Government of failing to protect the players by allowing the fixtures to proceed.
Israel rejects allegations of genocide, apartheid and war crimes.
The FAI has said it will honour the games while continuing to lobby UEFA to suspend Israel from international competition.
Chief executive David Courell said the association was in “a really difficult position”, while director of football John Martin urged opponents not to blame the players.
“People like me and David Courell made this decision, not the players,” Martin said.
RTÉ is contractually obliged to broadcast the matches but will provide no Irish commentary or punditry.