(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Ahn Hong-seok = The game was played, but there was no handshake.
The BBC reported that the UEFA Nations League match between Ireland and Israel, held amid controversy on the 28th (Korean time), was played in a cold atmosphere.
On this day, Irish players at the Nagier Dei Stadium in Debrecen, Hungary, bowed their heads when the Israeli national anthem was played.
In international matches, it is customary for players from both teams to shake hands after the national anthem, but this was not possible on this day. There was no exchange of pennants between the captains of both teams.
Controversy continued after the two countries were placed together in Group B3 in the group draw held last February. Ireland is considered a country in Europe with strong pro-Palestinian sentiment.
There were continued calls for the Irish team to abstain due to the war between Israel and Palestine. The 'Stop The Game' campaign, led by an organization called 'Irish Sports for Palestine', also gained momentum.
Tensions between the two teams reached a peak a week before the game when the Israel Football Association (IFA) criticized Ireland national team coach Heimir Hallgrimsson (Iceland) as “ignorant, hypocritical and foolish.”
This was in response to coach Hallgrimsson's earlier statement, "We are not playing with genocide, we are playing against genocide."
There were loud calls for withdrawal, but the Irish team decided to participate as scheduled after a long meeting at their accommodation in Debrecen the day before the game.
However, goalkeeper Gavin Bajunu left the national team. He explained his reasons to local media, saying it "didn't feel right" to take part in the two group matches against Israel.
Irish players wore black armbands to the game. David Kurrell, secretary general of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), explained, “The purpose is to commemorate all the lives lost in the conflict in the Gaza Strip.”
Jack Moylan, who scored the goal that gave Ireland a 3-0 win, celebrated by kissing the FAI emblem on the armband and uniform in turn.
When the Irish players took the field for pre-game warm-ups, a small number of Israeli fans booed them.
“It was probably the hardest week of my career as a manager and probably the same for most of the players. It was a situation we had never been in,” said Hallgrimsson.
On October 7, 2023, the Palestinian armed faction Hamas attacked Israel, and Israel responded with a large-scale military operation, continuing the war for three years.
The United Nations estimates that more than 73,000 Palestinians were killed in Israel's retaliatory attacks.
The history of subjugation lies behind the strong pro-Palestinian sentiment in Ireland.
Ireland, which was under British rule for a long time, has a strong view of comparing the situation of Palestine to its own past experiences, and this sense of identification is especially noticeable among the Irish nationalist camp in Northern Ireland, which still remains a British territory.
Israel has repeatedly denied committing genocide and war crimes, and has stated that its military operations in the Gaza Strip are justified in terms of self-defense.
