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LAST UPDATE | 13 Feb
CALLS HAVE BEEN issued for the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) to boycott football matches against Israel in the Uefa Nations League, but the Taoiseach has insisted the games should go ahead.
Ireland was drawn into the same group as Israel, Austria and Kosovo for the league last night, and the FAI confirmed shortly after the draw that Ireland would be fulfilling the games against Israel.
Micheál Martin said there is a need to distinguish between the policies of the government of Israel and the Israeli people.
Previously, FAI membership and the Irish manager have called on Israel to be banned from competition.
At an EGM last year, a motion tabled by Bohemians calling for Israel to be banned from Uefa competitions was passed by a significant majority. The FAI wrote to Uefa on 20 November last year to formally request that Israel be banned from competition.
However, the FAI said yesterday that they would be fulfilling the fixtures because they’d risk being disqualified from the Nations League if they didn’t play the games.
Israel’s home game is on 27 September and Ireland’s home game is on 4 October.
Israel have been playing their home games in neutral venues since October 2023, and held their World Cup qualifiers last year in Hungary.
However, in a post on social media today, the Israel FA said it is “hoping to welcome Ireland to a sea of Blue & White in a packed stadium”.
Starting the Nations League on the road, but Sept 27th is the date we’ve all circled. 🗓️
— ISRAEL FA (@ISRAELFA) February 13, 2026
We’re hoping to welcome @IrelandFootball to a sea of Blue & White in a packed stadium. There's nothing like Israeli hospitality when the stands are shaking! 🏟️💙 pic.twitter.com/MHAPgz50MA
Speaking to reporters today in Cork, Martin said the FAI is “taking the correct decision to fulfil the fixture”.
Asked if the away game should be held in Israel, Martin said it was a matter for the footballing authorities and added: “There is no official boycott of Israel, just to make that point.
“From an Irish perspective, we’re now focusing on peace in the Middle East.”
Martin added: “I think sport is an area that can be challenging when it crosses into the realm of politics, but here the international sporting organisation has its rules, its framework, it’s a matter for them to deal with issues like that.”
He said there should not be security issues for the game in Ireland and the “team should be allowed play”.
He added that Irish security authorities will make decisions to “make sure the game can take place in a secure environment”.
Sinn Féin TD Joanna Byrne has accused the FAI of only having a principled position “on paper”, and called on it to boycott the fixtures against Israel.
“In November, the FAI voted to submit a motion to Uefa to ban Israel from its European club and international competitions. That was the correct moral and principled position to take,” she said.
“Therefore, I am extremely angry and dismayed that the FAI have confirmed they will play against Israel. It appears that their morals, and principled position, was only on paper – not in actions where it counts.
“Israel should not be in this competition. Uefa should have expelled them as soon as Israel went into Gaza on a genocidal, ethnic cleansing mission that has seen tens of thousands of innocents murdered, including hundreds of sports men and women.
Byrne said Uefa is displaying “double standards” as it expelled Russia from all club and international competitions in 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine.
“I hope the FAI knows the furore that will be coming for them from the Irish football fans – the vast, vast majority will not want to see our Boys In Green in the same stadium as the Israeli team.
Labour MEP Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said that the Irish footballing public would support the FAI if it decided to boycott the fixtures on the basis of an ongoing genocide in Gaza.
“Any individual player who refuses to play against Israel should also be supported”, he said.
“History demands we stand against genocide and apartheid and for international law.”
Sinead Gibney of the Social Democrats meanwhile stated that the “players who step on the pitch must be central to the decision-making process.”
She added that “Israel should not be permitted to play in UEFA competitions, just as Russia was banned for its illegal invasion of Ukraine”.
Meanwhile, Fine Gael Senator Evanne Ní Chuilinn said the FAI cannot be expected to boycott UEFA Nations League games and that the onus should be on global governing bodies.
“We cannot have a situation whereby Irish high-performance athletes in football or athletics or basketball have to curtail their short playing careers in order to make up for the moral failings or otherwise of multi-million euro organisations,” said Ní Chuilinn said.
Trade union Siptu meanwhile has said that members employed by the FAI have raised “serious safety concerns” regarding any proposed Nations League match between Ireland and Israel.
Siptu Deputy General Secretary, Greg Ennis, said such a match “is not only a serious political and moral issue but also has safety implications for workers and players which the FAI must consider”.
He said there is a “duty of care the FAI must show for its staff” and that as a result, it must “rule out this fixture”.
“It is up to the governing association to consider these issues and not place players and staff in a situation where their safety and future reputations are in jeopardy,” said Ennis.
He added: “Irish sport has not been placed in such a predicament since the days of the sporting boycott against South Africa.
“The reputations of players and sporting organisations who broke that boycott were severely tarnished.
“In 1970, a rugby game between Ireland and South Africa led to major disruption, violence, and disorder in Dublin. Let’s not make the same mistake.
“We believe the Irish people want the FAI to do the right thing here.”
The ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza has killed at least 70,117 people as of December 2025.
The FAI has been contacted for comment.
-With additional reporting from Diarmuid Pepper
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