Robbie Keane's wife says family feel unsafe over Israeli job abuse

Claudine Keane said the safety and wellbeing of her family have been jeopardised after her husband Robbie, the former Tottenham Hotspur and Republic of Ireland footballer, became a ‘political pawn’ over his stewardship of an Israeli club.

Keane, who managed Maccabi Tel Aviv for a season before stepping down this summer, drew criticism after declining to leave the job following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The former Republic of Ireland captain’s status as the country’s record goalscorer has done nothing to shield him from ‘hurtful, threatening and dangerous’ messages, said his wife, who claimed the ‘outrageous accusations’ levelled against Keane have ‘incited hatred’.

‘I would just like to remind a certain small group of individuals my family, my children and I live in Ireland, this is our home,’ Claudine Keane wrote on social media.

‘I feel extremely uncomfortable and sometimes intimidated by some messages again from a small group that are hurtful, threatening and dangerous.

‘They not only put genuinely our safety and wellbeing as a family at risk, they are using a sportsperson as a political pawn and in doing so inciting hatred by making absolutely outrageous accusations.

 'I always felt safe in Ireland until now. I always wanted to move home, bring my kids up here and enjoy the Ireland that both me and my husband love.

'They are taking every bit of enjoyment and safety away from me and my family. We love our country, we are not politicians, we have never done any wrong.'

The Keanes have been together since 2002, when 18-year-old Claudine was an aspiring model and Robbie was establishing himself as a rising star following successful spells at Wolverhampton Wanderers, Coventry and Leeds United.

They met at Lillie’s Bordello, a nightclub in Dublin – Keane was a little bashful, Claudine later recalled – and immediately hit it off.

‘Robbie came over to talk to me and I thought he was really nice because he was a little bit shy,’ Claudine, who grew up in the coastal settlement of Malahide, about a 45-minute drive from the capital, later recalled. 

‘He asked for my number – I wouldn’t usually give out my number, but I thought he was really genuine, so I did.’

It was a life-changing decision: the couple went on to marry in 2008 and have since had two boys, nine-year-old Hudson and Robert, 15.

In 2018, following Robbie’s five-year spell at LA Galaxy, the Keanes returned to Ireland with the express intention of raising their children there.

‘I’m based here, the kids are at school here,’ said Robbie. ‘When I left LA we bought a house because I wanted the kids to go to school here. That tells the story.’

That fairytale narrative has recently acquired a darker tone, however, with Keane targeted by online trolls after presenting caps to members of the Ireland squad at the team hotel in advance of Thursday night’s Nations League meeting with Finland.

Several politicians have also have aimed broadsides at Keane, with Mary Lou McDonald, the leader of Sinn Féin, among those who have suggested he was wrong not to step down from his role at Maccabi Tel Aviv following the outbreak of war. 

'I have a real problem with sport when it is under the remit of an apartheid regime and where genocide is being committed,' told the Irish Examiner last December.

McDonald's criticism came after Irish MP Chris Andrews lashed out at Keane over his decision to take over at Tel Aviv last June. 

'Very, very disappointing that Irish Football icon Robbie Keane would sign up with racist and apartheid Israeli club @MaccabitlvBC,’ Andrews wrote on social media. ‘Keane is in a position to set [an] example and Boycott Apartheid but chose not to.’ 

Andrews doubled down on his criticism following Keane's role in the Ireland team's annual cap presentation, branding the Football Association of Ireland's decision to involve the former player 'very disappointing'.  

Claudine sees such comments as part of a wider and long-running campaign of persecution against her husband.

'Please stop this absolute witch hunt and consider that politicians should not get to tell you where you can and cannot work,' she wrote. 'Is the UK, America [and] Saudi OK? We all want peace.

'You can’t hide the absolute bias, malice and defamation over the years; it’s nothing short of a disgrace. I apologise, this is so long winded. This is what years of what feels like a bully[ing] campaign and witch hunt feels like, it almost breaks you.

'To the logical people, thank you, and to the others: you are picking on [the] wrong person/family. Enough is enough. 

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 'I would also say my children were in the Irish hotel during cap presentation, they are Irish citizens and play schoolboys and league of Ireland football.

‘Are they too not welcome because of a manager’s job their father resigned from? It’s all totally hypocritical to say the least.’

Despite the challenging circumstance surrounding his tenure, Keane presided over a successful period at Tel Aviv's Bloomfield Stadium, guiding the club to its first league title 2020 and also winning the Israeli equivalent of the League Cup. 

He also led them to the last 16 of the Europa Conference League, the best result in continental competition in the club's history. 

He had to flee Israel after the October 7 massacre and evacuated Israel via Greece. Tel-Aviv was one of the cities which was hit with rocket attacks that month as part of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

Keane and his staff worked remotely while the Israeli league was suspended before returning at the start of December. 

Last week, Maccabi fans tore down Palestinian flags and chanted anti-Arab slogans on a visit to Amsterdam for a Europa League match against Ajax.

Following a 5-0 victory for Ajax, hundreds of Maccabi supporters were ambushed and attacked in the streets. Footage emerged of youths wearing dark clothes and masks chasing down and beating victims – mostly in Maccabi colours – until about 4am.

The violence, condemned by Dutch and Israeli officials as anti-Semitic, led to at least 67 arrests and Israel sent six rescue planes to evacuate fans.