Irish basketball chief says boycotting Israel clash would be 'ruinous'

Ireland will play Israel on Thursday in a Eurobasket qualifier in Latvia.

Glanmire's Amy Dooley is in line for a first senior cap: Pic Larry Cummins

Basketball Ireland CEO John Feehan says boycotting Thursday's EuroBasket qualifier with Israel would be 'ruinous' for Irish women's basketball.

Thursday’s contest was originally due to take place in Israel on November 9th, but was postponed due to the conflict in the region and has been rescheduled to a neutral venue in Riga, Lativa, with a tip-off at 4pm Irish time. 

As Israel’s bombardment of Gaza continues, the Irish team has come under pressure from demonstrators to pull out of the game. At the recent National Cup finals in Tallaght, members of Irish Sport for Palestine staged a peaceful protest outside the National Basketball Arena.

But Feehan says Basketball Ireland is obliged to play the game.

“The game has received a high degree of publicity due to the opposition we face on Thursday and the strength of feeling around the fixture. As we have previously stated, we’re all very concerned about events in Gaza and are extremely sympathetic to the dreadful situation that people are having to deal with. 

"Basketball Ireland is obliged to play this fixture, because the ramifications of not doing so would be ruinous to the women’s international programme, as boycotting these games with Israel would lead to huge fines from FIBA of up to €180,000, along with an effective five-year ban for the team. 

"I’d like to praise James Weldon, his staff and the players who’ve had to deal with off-court issues in the lead-up, but remain focused on putting in a performance on Thursday, as they target a win.” 

Weldon has included three uncapped players in his squad for the fixture, with injured captain Edel Thornton among those missing. Grace Prenter of Trinity Meteors, Ulster University’s Alex Mulligan and The Address UCC Glanmire’s Amy Dooley are all in line for their first caps.

Weldon said: “The three players drafted in have all been in excellent form for their clubs. Grace Prenter has come through the Irish underage set-up and really stepped up at MissQuote.ie Super League level this season. Alex Mulligan and Amy Dooley have naturally been on my radar for a long time, they’ve been performing consistently for their clubs over the last number of years and all three new players deserve their call-ups.”  

IRELAND: Amy Dooley (The Address UCC Glanmire), Bridget Herlihy (Ensio Lugo, Spain), Alex Mulligan (Ulster University), Kara McCleane (University of Galway Mystics), Grace Prenter (Trinity Meteors), Kate Hickey (SETU Waterford Wildcats), Sarah Hickey (SETU Waterford Wildcats), Lauryn Homan (Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell), Abigail Rafferty (Ulster University), Annalise Murphy (The Address UCC Glanmire), Sorcha Tiernan (FloMAX Liffey Celtics), Áine O’Connor (FloMAX Liffey Celtics)