The Israel FA have issued a furious statement in response to Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson's 'genocide' comment ahead of their Nations League fixture on Sunday night.
A lot of controversy has surrounded the fixture, with the 'Stop the Game' campaign publishing an open letter on Monday, signed by more than 100 sporting figures, calling for the players not to fulfil upcoming fixtures against Israel as part of a continued boycott amid the ongoing Gaza War.
Ciara Mageean, Louise Quinn, Tony Ward, Joe Brolly and Colm O'Rourke were among the signatories. As per the Daily Mail, the letter claimed that pressure was being placed on the players after previous attempts to influence governing bodies and the government came to nought.
"The FAI, UEFA, and the Irish Government have all failed you by not taking decisive action and taking this out of your hands," it claimed. But while governing bodies have not taken any form of direct action against Israel, despite calls for them to do so coming well before the 2026 World Cup, Ireland's boss has now had some choice words of his own to say.
Heimir Hallgrimsson Makes 'Genocide' Comment Before Israel Fixture
The Icelandic boss used forceful language in defending his team as they prepare to take the field against a side that the Football Association of Ireland wanted to have suspended from competitions. He said over the weekend:
"And I've said before, we're not playing with genocide, we're playing against genocide.
"So, we're playing against Israel. We're not playing with Israel."
Israel has not officially recognised or accepted any allegations of genocide, strongly rejecting such claims as false and stating that its military actions in Gaza are acts of self-defense following the October 7, 2023, attacks.
However, international bodies and expert organizations have applied the term to Israel's actions, with the UN concluding last year (as per the BBC) that acts of genocide have been carried out on Palestinians - a finding that many human rights organisations agree with, as records state at least 73,919 Palestinians and over 1,200 Israelis have been killed.
Israel Hit Back With Furious Statement
As reports circulated that the Israelis were considering filing a complaint to UEFA, the Israeli FA posted on X on Monday night (see the full post below):
"We have contributed to the world and humanity in countless fields, earning an impressive number of Nobel Prizes along the way. Unfortunately, we have not yet found a cure for stupidity, ignorance and hypocrisy displayed by the Republic of Ireland team coach.
"We're not playing with ignorance, hypocrisy and stupidity, we're playing against the coach who embodies them."
The Ireland chief oversaw training at Abbotstown as he fine-tunes preparations for Thursday's meeting with Kosovo in Pristina, but it's the meeting with Israel in Debrecen in Hungary on Sunday, and in Backa Topola in Serbia a week later, that continue to dominate headlines.
- Robin Mumford
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