Irish press conference interrupted due to tensions with Israeli journalists

(ANSA-AFP) - ROME, 03 OCTOBER - The press conference of Ireland's coach Heimir Hallgrimsson, held on Saturday in Serbia on the eve of a football match against Israel, was interrupted early following new tensions with Israeli journalists regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ireland has long supported the Palestinian cause and this autumn's double match between its national team and Israel, as part of the Nations League, has already sparked several controversies. After Irish players threatened to boycott the first leg to protest Israel's war in Gaza, the first match finally took place as scheduled last Sunday in Debrecen, Hungary, as Israel was unable to host the match on its soil due to the security situation. During the match, which Ireland won (3-0), the Irish players wore black armbands and ostentatiously lowered their heads during the Israeli anthem.

Before kickoff, there was no exchange of pennants or handshakes between the captains. While the return match is scheduled for Sunday in Backa Topola, Serbia - the Irish FA refused to host the match at home for security reasons - it was the Irish coach's pre-match press conference that generated new tensions. According to the Afptv images, these began when a journalist questioned Heimir Hallgrimsson, the Icelandic coach in charge of Ireland, about the attack that occurred on Wednesday on a Flydubai flight headed from the Emirates to Israel, defined as a "terrorist act" by the Emirati and Israeli authorities. "What do you think of the people you support? Their ideology is based on murder. Just this week, one of them tried to kill 170 Israeli passengers," the journalist, whose identity could not be ascertained at the moment, said in English.

"Today we will not answer these types of questions. We will only answer questions about football," a press officer immediately replied. However, shortly afterwards, another journalist also addressed the Ireland manager: "Your players are calling our players monkeys during the match...", he said, only to be interrupted by a press officer who repeated "that's totally false", while the journalist in question had his microphone removed. "Don't touch me, don't touch me", exclaimed the latter, as the Irish delegation ended the press conference early.

Israel's technical commissioner, Ran Ben Shimon, who also appeared before the media at the end of the day, declared that he does not "deal with politics". "I want the team to improve significantly in terms of tactics and approach to the match. And this is my only priority.

I won't respond to anything that doesn't relate to football at this time," the coach added.

The Israeli authorities had harshly criticized the initiatives of the Irish national team; the Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, had accused Dublin of being "on the wrong side of history". (ANSA-AFP).