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UEFA Rejects FAI Request to Separate Ireland, Israel

By Drooid · Sep 23, 2026, 12:33 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

FAI Upholds Fixtures

The Football Association of Ireland voted 75-32 to fulfill UEFA Nations League fixtures against Israel.
FAI warned that cancelling the matches could cost €5.5 million.
More than 160 Irish athletes, including Olympian Ciara Mageean, signed an open letter urging a boycott.
Coach Heimir Hallgrimsson said the team is ‘playing against genocide, not with genocide.’
UEFA rejected the FAI’s request to separate Ireland and Israel.

Summary

RTÉ Limits Broadcast

RTÉ will air the Ireland-Israel games using only an international commentary feed and no studio presenters.
Siptu deputy general secretary Greg Ennis welcomed the reduced coverage but said he prefers the matches not be broadcast.
Several Belfast pubs, including The Felons Club, will not screen either match, citing the “Stop the Game” campaign.
RTÉ will still provide news reporting on the games, with journalist Tony O'Donoghue on site.

History

Historical Context

In 1976 the Montreal Summer Olympics faced a boycott when 28 African nations, led by Congolese official Jean-Claude Ganga, withdrew after the IOC refused to bar New Zealand, whose rugby team had toured apartheid South Africa earlier that year. The protest followed South Africa’s 1970 expulsion from the IOC and helped spur the 1977 Commonwealth Gleneagles Agreement, shaping future sport-politics policies.

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FAI Upholds Fixtures

The Football Association of Ireland voted 75-32 to fulfill UEFA Nations League fixtures against Israel.
FAI warned that cancelling the matches could cost €5.5 million.
More than 160 Irish athletes, including Olympian Ciara Mageean, signed an open letter urging a boycott.
Coach Heimir Hallgrimsson said the team is ‘playing against genocide, not with genocide.’
UEFA rejected the FAI’s request to separate Ireland and Israel.

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