Pro-Palestine protests during Ireland-Austria: controversy continues over the challenges with Israel

Protests continue in Ireland against the Nations League double match with Israel.

On Thursday evening, during Ireland-Austria at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, around 30 tennis balls, some with stickers of the Palestinian flag and the words #StopTheGame, were thrown onto the pitch in the 19th minute, forcing the referee to briefly interrupt the match.

Shortly after, another protester entered the field with a Palestinian flag.

The protest was preceded by a demonstration outside the stadium organized by Stop The Game and the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, with participants asking the Irish national team not to play the second match against Israel, scheduled for Sunday in Serbia behind closed doors.

Stop The Game had also sent an open letter to the players and coach Heimir Hallgrímsson asking them to abandon the match.

The mobilization comes after weeks of pressure on Irish football.

In May, during the friendly match against Qatar, fans had already thrown tennis balls onto the pitch to protest against the matches against Israel.

The FAI had subsequently voted to ask UEFA to suspend Israel from competitions, but the national team then decided to play the two scheduled matches.

Even within the team, the issue caused divisions.

A significant majority of the players voted to play against Israel, but goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu withdrew from the squad for the first match, citing moral reasons.

The team wore black armbands and during the Israeli anthem the players lowered their gaze; before the match there were no usual handshakes.

The first match, played last Sunday in Debrecen, Hungary, ended 3-0 for Ireland.

Now the focus is on Sunday's match, moved to the TSC Arena in Bačka Topola, Serbia, and scheduled without an audience for safety reasons.

Bazunu returned to the bench against Austria, but will not be available for the second match against Israel.

The Stop The Game campaign has announced that it will make no further public comments ahead of Sunday's match, leaving it up to the players to decide what to do next.