Israeli Basketball hit out at Ireland for not 'standing by us in the spirit of sports'

Basketball Ireland, mindful of potential protests, decided it was not feasible to host an Israeli national team.

Israeli Basketball Association logo.

The Israeli Basketball Association has criticised Basketball Ireland for “not standing by us and not responding in the spirit of sports” in the wake of BI declining to host the Israeli national team next February for their rescheduled women’s Group E Eurobasket qualifier. Instead, it appears the game will be played in neutral Riga.

The Irish senior women’s team were due to play Israel in Tel Aviv on November 9 but the game was postponed in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attacks and the Department of Foreign Affairs advising against Irish citizens travelling to the region. At the time BI CEO John Feehan stated, “We will continue to work with FIBA and our counterparts in Israel to explore alternative arrangements for the fixture to be fulfilled at an appropriate time.” 

The next international window, in February, offered such an opportunity, but Israel had hoped that Ireland would stage the game in Dublin, allowing Israel to host the return game in November 2024.

However, Basketball Ireland, mindful of potential protests around the visit of an Israeli national team in light of the ongoing bombardment of Gaza, informed FIBA Europe that its preference was for any game in February between the countries to be played in a neutral venue. 

A statement from Basketball Ireland read:

“It was not possible to play Ireland’s FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 Qualifier in Israel last November because of the ongoing conflict in the region. On October 23rd Basketball Ireland announced the decision not to travel, with player and staff welfare our primary concern. We also followed Government advice to avoid travel to the region.

"Switching the November fixture to Dublin was not feasible from a logistics point of view, due to the shortened timeline to arrange such a change, nor could Basketball Ireland guarantee the safety of the Israeli team, because of the likelihood of protests.

"Basketball Ireland has been in constant liaison with FIBA Europe and our Israeli counterparts and on October 24th a formal decision was made by FIBA Europe to move the game to February 8th, to an undetermined venue and location.

"Travel to Israel remains unfeasible because of the ongoing conflict in the region and Basketball Ireland requested to FIBA Europe that the game be held in a neutral venue. Switching the fixture to Dublin remains unviable, due to the continuing risk of protests and with player security in mind.

"No fixture details have been confirmed by FIBA Europe, nor have we received direct communication from the Israeli Federation with regards to a venue for the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers game on February 8th.”

However, the Israeli Federation on Sunday announced that the game will take place on February 8 in Latvia, the same country that the Israelis will also play three days later in another game in that Eurobasket qualification group.

In a statement on its website, the Israeli Basketball Association said, “[We] approached the Irish federation [Basketball Ireland] with the aim of changing home teams but they answered in the negative. We regret that the Irish are not standing by us and not responding in the spirit of sports as many other associations and groups have throughout Europe.

“The union thanks FIBA Europe for helping us and the Latvian association as well for hosting the women’s team as they have been doing for more than a year and a half with the Ukrainian national teams and showing they are made of the best human material.”