After the players vote, Ireland plays its match against Israel
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David Correll, CEO of the Irish Football Association, said on Saturday that the national team will play its scheduled match tomorrow, Sunday, against its Israeli counterpart in the European Nations League, after holding a vote within the team regarding holding the match.
Ireland had postponed its press conference that was scheduled before the match in Hungary, and team training was also postponed.
This came to provide an opportunity to continue talks between the players, the technical staff, and the executives, after one of the players revealed his intention to withdraw from the team.
This match has become the focus of great attention since the draw was held last February, as Ireland is considered one of the European countries most critical of Israel's war in Gaza. Ireland witnessed numerous protests demanding that the national team not play matches against Israel.
Coryell told the media, "One of the players informed him that he was not comfortable playing this match, and revealed his intention to withdraw from the team."
He added, "In the end, during the last ninety minutes, we held a vote among the team members to find out their opinion about playing the match, and the overwhelming majority were in favor of moving forward."
He continued: "Accordingly, the Federation has taken a decision on behalf of Irish football that this match will be held."
Coryell added that talks lasted four hours between the players on Saturday, some of which included members of the technical staff and executive management.
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This came after a two-hour meeting yesterday, Friday, in which the players agreed to travel to Hungary.
The CEO refused to reveal details about the number of players who voted, but said that a large majority were in favor of playing the match.
But Ireland coach Heimir Hallgrimsson said, "The players are training today while the discussion continues, and we have not yet reached any final conclusion on this matter."
He added, "The match will take place, we will train, and there will be more discussions tonight and perhaps tomorrow. It is just an exceptional case, and we are trying to limit the damage."
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Ireland was scheduled to hold a press conference on Saturday, but shortly before the scheduled time at around 10:15 a.m. local time, journalists were informed that the conference would take place after the team's training session at the Debrecen stadium.
Ireland players will not appear in any press conferences during the remainder of the current international match period.
"In the conversation that took place yesterday with the players, it was clear that they felt uncomfortable in this atmosphere to deal with all the questions directed at them that were not related to football," Corel said.
He added that there will be no pre-match handshake with the Israeli team or exchange of flags, and that they intend to wear black armbands in honor of all the lives lost in the conflict.
Members of the Irish Football Association voted in November for their board to ask UEFA to suspend Israel's participation in continental competitions, but a motion in favor of going ahead with the matches was approved during an extraordinary meeting of the Irish Football Association's General Assembly in July.
All of Israel's matches are scheduled to be held at home in the city of Debrecen, while Ireland has moved its match scheduled for October 4 to Serbia. This match will be held without fans in attendance.
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