Taoiseach: Ireland should not be 'self-defeating' in approach to  Israel match

Bohemians supporters hold up a #StopTheGame banner, demanding the cancellation of the Republic of Ireland match on October 4th, at the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division match between Galway United and Bohemians. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said Ireland does not want to be “self-defeating” in its approach to football matches against Israel in the autumn.

The Republic of Ireland men’s football team is scheduled to face Israel in two Uefa Nations League fixtures in September and October.

At a friendly match in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin last night, some fans threw tennis ball with the words Stop The Game on the pitch in protest.

Asked about the incident, the Taoiseach said: “We don’t want to damage ourselves unnecessarily.

“In other words, concede six points to Israel, our ranking goes down. Irish football has been on an upward curve of late, and so on that side, you don’t want to be self-defeating in terms of any actions. The Government doesn’t run Fifa.

He added: “There is no argument about Ireland’s opposition to what Israel has been doing in Gaza, and everything shouldn’t be reduced to just one match in terms of the articulation of that opposition or protesting about the Israeli government’s behaviour in Gaza itself.

“The full implications of, say, if the Irish team unilaterally decided to put out, the full implications of that in terms of Irish football needs to be worked out. There’s a presumption that if they did, some of that would impact on Fifa, it may have no impact at all on Fifa, or indeed on Israel, for that matter.”