Daniel Wolfram
It is becoming harder to seperate sports and politics.
In recent years, the issue of Israel and Palestine has become an increasingly hot-button topic all over the world.
Many independent human rights groups call the situation in Gaza a genocide, while the Israeli government continues to claim that the country is acting in self-defense.
There is also a growing sentiment all over the world that what Israel is doing in Gaza is wrong. That was highlighted during last night’s football game between Ireland and Israel in the UEFA Nations League.
Refusing to play
It all started with Ireland’s back-up goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu refusing to play against the Israeli national team.
According to The Irish Times, Bazunu met with national team head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson and conveyed that his “conscience” did not allow him to suit up and play against Israel.
That decision triggered an emergency meeting by the players to debate whether the rest of the squad should do the same and refuse to play the game.
FAI Facing Backlash
The meeting went on for more than four hours, but in the end, the squad decided to move forward with the game.
The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) then held a press conference in Hungary where the game was being played to announce that a “significant majority” of the team had decided to play the game, according to CEO David Courell.
When pressed by a journalist who had received information that the vote was 14 in favour and 8 against playing, not quite the significant majority that Courell had touted, he replied that “a significant majority can be open to interpretation.”
Reporters from The Irish Times and The Irish Independent called this a major misstep by the FAI as it was then revealed that neither Courell nor the head coach had spoken with Gavin Bazunu about his feelings before selecting him for the squad.
According to The Irish Times, the situation has left Bazunu isolated from the rest of the team, and the FAI seems to blame this whole ordeal on him alone.
Meanwhile, the Israeli national team said in a statement that “the separation of football and politics must be maintained” while adding that playing the game would avoid the “politicisation of football.”
Allegations of racism from Israeli supporters in the stands
The game then went on as scheduled after the Irish players bowed their heads during the Israeli national anthem and refused to shake hands with the players from Israel.
Ireland won the game 3-0, but the only thing people will remember the game for is the accusation of racism towards Ireland’s Adam Idah from the Israeli supporters in the stands who had traveled to Hungary.
According to Al Jazeera, the Irish players alleged that the Israeli supporters were making monkey chants and sounds at Idah.
But UEFA is not going to open an investigation as a delegate told the FAI that such an inquiry could not take place because the Irish players did not say “racism,” but instead said “listen,” while the referees alleged that they did not hear anything either.
While Russia has been banned from all professional football in UEFA and FIFA, Israel is still allowed to play in the Euro qualifiers as well as the Nations League tournament.
The two teams will meet again on Sunday in Serbia for the next chapter in this explosive drama involving sport and politics.
