Ireland football coach urges players to ‘win this war’ against Israel

Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson has challenged his players to “win this war” against Israel when the teams meet in the Nations League amid renewed protests in the Irish parliament about the games.

The Football Association of Ireland has been under pressure to boycott the two matches, including a home fixture in Dublin on October 4.

Several pro-Palestinian Irish politicians and football figures have urged the federation to withdraw from the fixtures over Israel’s conduct during its genocidal war on Gaza.

The FAI passed a motion in November requesting that UEFA immediately suspend Israel from international competition, but received no support from European football’s governing body.

There were new protests at the Dail – the Irish parliament – on Wednesday over the fixtures.

In October, Icelandic boss Hallgrimsson was among those calling for Israel to be banned from international football competition.

The 58-year-old, speaking ahead of a friendly game against Qatar in Dublin, said: “I’ve already expressed my opinion on this matter, you don’t need to repeat that one.

“But from a footballing perspective – it’s an obstacle I don’t like, and it’s unfair for the players to be in this position and us to be in this position – but from a footballing perspective, I don’t like us to be the bad guys. We are not the bad guys here.”

He added: “I think the best answer for us is just to win this game, to win this war against them [Israel]. That would be a perfect answer from my end.

“Other decisions are not made by us, but all the players would like to represent the country and do well for them, no matter who is the opponent.”

Israel played their World Cup qualifiers in Hungary and are set to use a neutral venue for their Nations League match against Ireland on September 27.

Such has been the outcry in Ireland concerning the October 4 match in Dublin in particular, there have been suggestions it could be played elsewhere, with the FAI insisting in February it had “no choice” but to fulfil the two fixtures against Israel.

Hallgrimsson, however, said: “It would obviously be a disadvantage from footballing reasons not to play at home. We’ve done really well at home.

“It’s building to be a strong fortress for us, Aviva [Lansdowne Road], and to move it obviously will lower our chances, so I hope people can rally around the players and us playing instead of protesting or doing something that’s damaging.”