Bazunu not contacted for his views on Israel, confirms FAI director of football

Goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu decided to boycott Ireland's fixtures against Israel. Pic: Ryan Byrne/Inpho

FAI director of football John Martin has confirmed that Gavin Bazunu wasn’t spoken to by the FAI about his feeling towards the Israel game ahead of his withdrawal on Saturday.

Conflicting information has emerged since the squad was selected for this four-game window, with manager Heimir Hallgrímsson initially confirming he’d individually contacted each of the 26 players.

Following Bazunu’s decision to boycott the fixtures on the eve of the first game on Saturday, under questioning the manager said he’d only spoken to the outfield players, leaving the goalkeepers to his coach Gudmundur Hreidarsson.

There was a further twist in today’s FAI appearance before the Oireachtas committee for sport when David Courell, the chief executive, revealed how the Ireland manager visited Bazunu in August while he was a Southampton player. This hour-long conversation, he stated, provided an adequate window for his concerns to be raised and none arose.

When this information was probed by the committee’s chairman Alan Kelly, Martin stepped in. “Truthfully, it doesn’t appear like anybody spoke to the goalkeepers,” he said, a response which, as new information, was praised by the committee.

Bazunu, who has since signed for Bolton Wanderers, is back in the squad for Thursday’s fixture against top seeds Austria, after which he’ll withdraw again, to be replaced by Josh Keeley as the third goalkeeper for the Israel rematch.

Today’s hearing is running into its third hour, with a range of topics covered.

Safeguarding and governance were top of the agenda and concerns have been raised about the FAI being unable to confirm if all grassroots coaches are Garda vetted.