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Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson. Ryan Byrne/INPHO
From The 42inside story
A day like no other in Irish football: Chaos, pain, apologies and TWO rounds of player voting to play Israel
Gavin Bazunu stands firm as Ireland squad searches for a united front.
An editorial note re: The 42’s reporting on the Uefa Nations League matches between Ireland and Israel is available to read here.
JUST LIKE SAIPAN, Debrecen will be etched into the psyche of Irish football forever.
This was a day like no other, a national drama that travelled around the globe and was followed in real time from the moment the FAI told journalists sitting in the Nagyerdei Stadion 15 minutes before a scheduled 10.15am press conference that it had been delayed by at least two hours. Even the Uefa delegate in the room was blindsided.
Exactly two hours later the assembled media – including two Israeli journalists – had hailed taxis and got in rental cars to make the 10-minute journey and set up base outside the Ireland team hotel instead.
The players and management had already been locked in discussions throughout the morning and early afternoon. The view inside the hotel’s glass facade was blocked by dozens of black partitions in the windows. Not to mention one FAI security man and four local police officers.
Gavin Bazunu had already informed manager Heimir Hallgrímsson just after 8.30am on Saturday that he no longer wished to be part of the squad for the game with Israel on Sunday, as well as the fixture to end this window in a week’s time against the same opposition. He told his teammates soon afterwards. Then, 12 hours later, Bazunu released a statement on Instagram explaining his reasons.
So, just what happened during those 12 hours? It was a day of maddening intrigue, claim and counter-claim, and a belief now held within the Ireland camp that the players who have agreed to play are left looking like “national pariahs”.
Well, it might not even have been Debrecen where this materialised at all.
The 42 can reveal that it could so easily have been Pristina that we came to remember as the place where the Republic of Ireland players decided that they would not fulfil Sunday’s Nations League fixture with Israel.
Talks between the players started at around 1.30pm on Friday in the capital of Kosovo, the players still smarting from a 1-0 defeat the night before. Jason Knight is also understood to have been left fretting and feeling vulnerable after stating the following: “I don’t think the game should be going ahead but it is going ahead. We’ll have a deeper talk about it and what that means, we’ll get our thoughts as a group and go from there.”
That is what happened by early Friday afternoon, as the players locked themselves away to speak among themselves. At times, the players sought clarification from FAI figures including director of football John Martin, international operations director Barry Gleeson and media officer Kieran Crowley about things like what kind of match protocols they could scrap, how they would do it and what it would look like. It is understood the players spent around 30 minutes asking questions.
Players wanted to know had any other countries boycotted Israel in football or in any other sport. The FAI sought to get clarity on that and the players were told others hadn’t and they would be the first. Players were engaging and sought to hear as many opinions as possible in the room.
The player leadership group for this camp of Dara O’Shea, Caoimhín Kelleher, Jayson Molumby, Jason Knight, Ryan Manning and John Egan are respected. Yet, there was anger. One of the more inexperienced players is believed to have told someone close to him that he would be happy to follow the lead of such figures in whatever was decided.
It was at this point that players suggested making a slogan to bring with them onto the pitch against Israel. It was along the lines of “Stop War”. Players continued to ask more questions. Black armbands were then suggested as something that could be more feasible to organise. It’s also understood that around €400,000 was the figure that could be donated to charity.
The meeting continued far longer than even the FAI anticipated and they delayed their scheduled flight out of Pristina. As the hours rolled on, one source had described how some in the FAI began to think if they would instead be returning to Dublin and not heading to Hungary at all.
A breakthrough of sorts came when it was broadly agreed that Ireland would play the game. But it was not finalised and there were still details of a statement to flesh out, explaining what actions would be taken.
On the plane, Dara O’Shea helped to draft it. On Friday night, by around 10.30pm, some sources described a sense of “anger and carnage” among players at the position they were being placed in.
One by one, players read the statement and either asked for tweaks or clarifications. They began to sign off. At this stage, however, Bazunu had not agreed. He was not the only one with doubts. He did not come into this week planning on being a moral crusader but as the reality of the situation and severity of what was happening began to unfold, the Dubliner asked for time to consider further. He is also not the only player to have witnessed the controversial goal celebration of Israel’s Saied Abu Farchi, for which he received a second yellow card, and felt a sense of anger.
The Israel FA stated it was a snooker celebration, others had interpreted it as a shooting gun motion, and in a pathetic opening statement by head of communications for the Israel FA, Shlomi Barzel, Ken Doherty was cited in another blatant example of gaslighting and their constant attempts to provoke a reaction.
Bazunu spoke to his family and fiancée. He stayed in his bedroom and asked for the players’ statement to be sent to him again to read over. The first sentence jarred when written in black and white. It was along the lines of, “We have decided to fulfil both fixtures with Israel.”
At this stage of the night Dara O’Shea was informed that Bazunu was asking for more time. The Ireland captain respected his teammate needed this space.
On Saturday morning, FAI chief executive David Courell was in the area of the hotel reserved for FAI staff and players when Bazunu emerged at 8.30am. The CEO was not in Pristina for the Kosovo game as he remained in Dublin to work through budget meetings and submissions.
He was in good spirits with several Irish journalists before boarding our connecting flight in Munich. He is currently recovering from surgery on an Achilles injury he suffered playing in a staff match at Aviva Stadium earlier this year. He still requires the use of crutches at various points in the day.
Bazunu asked if he could speak directly with Hallgrímsson after coming down in the morning. The pair chatted privately for around 25 minutes and Bazunu informed the Ireland boss he had a change of heart and didn’t wish to play. He also wrote some of his thoughts down to share and informed them he would like to release a statement explaining his position.
After meeting with Hallgrímsson, Bazunu and his teammates gathered together where he explained his thinking again. He was asked by O’Shea not to release a statement on his own or at least delay it. Hallgrímsson asked if the statement could be put out after the game, and he would not include him in the matchday squad.
It had been discussed by Hallgrímsson and those around him before players joined up that if a player didn’t want to play against Israel but came into camp they could accommodate that by leaving them out and state they were managing minutes or load in a busy four-game window.
Tensions and tempers were rising.
Players were worried about the attention. The 42 knows of players seeking extra guidance from their representatives and video calling them in the team hotel. At least one felt the government should have been stronger and led from the front on this, rather than leaving it for the FAI and players to sort out.
Bazunu returned to his room and the rest of the squad began to reconvene their own discussions together and with management. With the nature of the debate, it has been suggested to The 42 that the FAI feel Finn Azaz, whose mother and grandparents are Israeli, might end his international career after this window.
It was then decided to carry out not one, but two votes. Bazunu was not included in this voting. He was not aware it was going on, although by this point it had been reported by The Irish Independent that the goalkeeper was the player who did not wish to play. The 42 subsequently established that five players were beginning to waver on the statement that they had planned to release.
It was also agreed to scrap the statement at this stage. It had been due to be read out on behalf of the players at the 10.15am press conference that never happened. On the back of how Knight felt he misspoke after the game in Kosovo, the plan was to also inform the media that the players would not carry out any further media commitments during the window.
Back in the meeting room, the players started voting. It was a blind vote, and the question posed to the players was as follows: “Given the circumstances, do you still feel comfortable taking to the pitch against Israel?”
When the votes were collected, the 22 players were told what the outcome was. They were then asked to vote again by writing down their answer and submitting it. There is an element of claim and counterclaim on the point of the margin. Some say it was 14/8 in favour of going ahead, others 15/7. Either way, is that quite the “significant majority” Courell stated at the later press conference?
Bazunu wasn’t counted in the vote, either.
Players such as Liam Scales, Jack Moylan and Troy Parrott are understood to have provided support and understanding for Bazunu. Others who had far stronger words with the Bolton Wanderers man would later take the time to visit him in his room on Saturday night and apologise for their behaviour.
It has been an incredibly difficult situation for all of this Ireland squad to navigate, dealing with an issue that gathered pace and left some feeling overwhelmed as they began to realise the enormity of what was happening. Some took time to ring their families.
After the second vote, when the margin was either 14/8 or 15/7, Courell, Martin, Hallgrímsson, assistant John O’Shea, and FAI president Paul Cooke were all present. It was decided by the FAI that they would fulfil the wishes of the majority. Courell stated at the press conference that “we understand it’s an FAI board decision, and it’s a decision we have consistently owned.”
Yet The 42 understands that the only member of the FAI board in Debrecen was Cooke. None of the other 12 board members were there to offer guidance or help to the Ireland players.
What then followed was the press conference which was detailed here, and here on The 42 on Saturday.
But that press conference was only a fraction of the drama on a seismic day for Irish football, one which is going to need time and serious care to repair.
The divisions are deep and lasting. The Ireland team is in unprecedented territory after a day like no other.
And today they are supposed to play Israel.
Written by David Sneyd and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.
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