Ireland players likely to make match fee charity donation around Israel games

Captain Dara O’Shea is gathering his players on Friday morning for a meeting on the matter.

Ireland's Dara O'Shea after defeat to Kosovo. Pic: INPHO/Ryan Byrne

Irish players are likely to donate their match-fees from the Israel games to humanitarian charity as a mark of solidarity with the afflicted Palestinian population.

After opening the Uefa Nations League campaign with a 1-0 defeat in Kosovo last night, captain Dara O’Shea is gathering his players this morning to discuss their approach to the controversial games.

Both fixtures will be played in neutral countries, beginning with Israel’s ‘home’ game on Sunday in Debrecen.

Ireland then host Austria on Thursday before trekking back to eastern Europe for their hosting of the Israel match, in the remote location of Backa Topola in North Serbia, close to the Hungarian border.

Gestures such as refusing to conduct the traditional pre-match handshakes have been mentioned, as well as potentially donning human rights t-shirts in the warm-up, but a charity donation is considered the most likely outcome.

Players receive around €2,000 per match from the FAI, a reduced figure since the women's squad struck an equal pay deal in 2021.

“We’ll give it the time of thought,” said Ipswich Town centre-back O'Shea.

“It's an important matter and we understand the feelings of many people. It's a strange situation for us all and we're trying to navigate that as best as possible.

“We are footballers and our job is to play football, so that's all we've been taught to do. It's hard to come by this, but we get it, we understand we're going to come together, to speak and let the room be open.

“Everyone can have their, we’ll find out what people's thoughts and feelings are and come to a decision as one.” He added: “I understand people are eager to find out because this has been the news as of late.

“I do get that but we haven't come together yet.” O’Shea is aware of the campaign back home for the players to boycott the fixtures but that option has been ruled out.

“Football is based on opinions and they make the game go round,” he reasoned. “You're going to get it at all angles and I get that. I've been getting people's opinions my whole career, good enough, not good enough, whatever.

“This is slightly different. We all have social media, we're all open to that, because it’s hard for young lads nowadays to stay off their phone.

“We have tried our best to do that but it can't be brushed over.

"As soon as the game was decided by the FAI, the government and UEFA, we were always going to be put in a tough position. We feel exposed, obviously. It's come down to us as such at the end. We knew that was going to be the case and we knew this was going to come our way."