DUBLIN (AP) – Ireland fans throwing tennis balls onto the pitch during a pro-Palestinian protest “ruined the game,” national team manager Heimir Hallgrimsson said.
Activists in Ireland are calling on the country’s football federation to boycott Nations League matches. Israel He threw a tennis ball onto the field during the first half of Ireland’s game against Qatar at the Aviva Stadium on Thursday, disrupting the match.
Hallgrimsson said “everyone has the right to protest” but there are downsides.
“It just ruins the game,” he said. “If they want to destroy the game for us, so be it. Obviously it’s not fun to watch, especially for us trying to think about the football side of things.”
The Icelandic coach reiterated his opposition to the boycott, arguing that from a sporting perspective it would only harm Ireland and uplift Israel.
Ireland are scheduled to play away to Israel on September 27th and at home to Israel on October 4th. The FAI, the Irish football federation, said it would face “serious consequences” from governing body UEFA if it refused to stage the match.
A banner at Thursday’s game read “Stop the Game” and a Palestinian flag was painted on a tennis ball, all in protest against Israel. military action in Gaza. The Israel-Hamas war was sparked by the extremist group’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Ireland won the friendly 1-0. Qatar used this match as a warm-up match. world cup campaign. The Irish failed to qualify for the tournament.
Last October, the Norwegian Football Federation made the following commitments: donate profits Stating that he “cannot remain indifferent” to humanitarian suffering, he participated in relief efforts in the Gaza Strip starting with the World Cup qualifying match against Israel.
Speaking ahead of Thursday’s game, Hallgrimsson said political discussions were “unfair to the players”.
“We’re not the bad guys here. We just want to perform, we want to play,” he said. “The players want to play for their country and do well.”
“We have no real interest in the hypocritical and biased discussions taking place in Ireland between groups that are hostile or even more hostile to the idea called the State of Israel, even if there are some among them who tell a different story,” the Israel Football Association told The Associated Press in a statement on Friday.
“We only deal with the Irish Association. We don’t care about anything else at all. Anyone can stop contacting us with questions about the two games. We will come and of course we will do everything we can to win. It doesn’t really matter to us what the opposition decides.”
Co-sponsored by Ireland and the UK 2028 European Championship. Nations League results will have an impact on the Euro qualification process.
___
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
