SF, Soc Dems to bring motion to boycott Israel matches

Opposition parties are bringing motions before the Dáil calling on the Government to support a boycott of Ireland's forthcoming soccer internationals against Israel.

Heimir Hallgrimsson's team is due to play Israel in the Nations League on 27 September at a neutral venue before hosting the Israeli team at Dublin's Aviva Stadium on 4 October.

Ireland's friendly against Qatar on Thursday was twice briefly interrupted in the first half when home fans threw tennis balls featuring the Palestinian flag on to the pitch, prompting fresh concerns over how a fixture with Israel could go ahead in the same venue.

It was confirmed Friday that the FAI is to hold an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on the issue.

Sinn Féin's motion will be debated when the Dáil sits again on Tuesday 9 June.

The motion calls on the Government to "support calls from the Irish football community, which include the Professional Footballers Association of Ireland (PFAI) and Irish Football Supporters Partnership (IFSP), for the FAI to refuse to participate in the proposed matches against Israel, scheduled for 27 September and 4 October in protest on legal and moral grounds".

The FAI has previously stated it must fulfill the fixtures, with a six-point deduction and a financial penalty likely should Ireland forfeit the games.

Any deduction would severely hinder Ireland's prospects of qualifying for Euro 2028.

The motion also calls on the Government to "agree to cover the costs of any financial penalty that the FAI may incur through refusing to play the game" and "to deny any Israeli football players and staff, Israeli officials, including Israeli Sports Minister Makhlouf Zohar and Israeli President Isaac Herzog, and Israeli fans who have participated in violations of international law, entry into Ireland".

The Social Democrats will use its private members time to bring forward a similar motion on 10 June.

Social Democrats spokesperson on sport Sinéad Gibney described the current Government position as "nonsensical".

"As it stands, the Government position is that it supports the game going ahead but its ministers intend to boycott it. This is clearly nonsensical, and is evidence of the government attempting to sit on the fence when it comes to this hugely important issue," the Dublin Rathdown TD said.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said Ireland cannot be self-defeating in how it approaches the fixtures.

However, the Sinn Féin motion notes how "FIFA and UEFA banned Russia in 2022 in response to the decision of the football associations of Czechia, Poland and Sweden to refuse to play Russia in international competition".

It added: "No action was taken by FIFA or UEFA against these associations for refusing to play Russia, thus setting a clear legal and moral precedent."

Several Government ministers have said they will not attend the match should it go ahead in Dublin.