LAST UPDATE | 7 Feb
BASKETBALL IRELAND CEO John Feehan has said that a boycott of Ireland’s game against Israel in tomorrow’s FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 Qualifier wouldn’t “make a blind bit of difference”.
The game was originally due to take place in Israel on 9 November 2023, but was postponed due to the conflict in the region and later rescheduled for a neutral venue in Riga, Latvia on 8 February.
Photos were published online this week of the Israeli team posing with armed members of the Israeli Defence Forces at a sports hall in Tel Aviv.
Calls have been made for Basketball Ireland to boycott the fixture.
However, speaking to RTÉ News last night, Feehan said he is not willing to do so.
“We have huge sympathy for what’s happening in Gaza. All the players, whether they’re in Latvia or not, feel the same way,” he said.
However, he added: “The reality is, is it going to make a blind bit of difference if we make a grand gesture and the simple answer to that is, in our view, no.”
Feehan said he is “not prepared to destroy my sport for a gesture that will have no impact”.
Basketball Ireland CEO John Feehan has said that a boycott by the Ireland women's team of their EuroBasket qualifier against Israel would mean a 10-year long spell in the wilderness for the sport in this country. pic.twitter.com/5uetXRd9i5
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) February 6, 2024
Speaking on Monday, Feehan said that Basketball Ireland is obliged to play this fixture as the remifications of not doing so “would be ruinous to the women’s international programme”.
He said that boycotting the games with Israel would “lead to huge fines from FIBA of up to €180,000, along with an effective five-year ban for the team”.
Former Ireland international Rebecca O’Keeffe told RTÉ News, however, that “it’s not until the second return game in November that they could incur a second fine and a potential ban”.
“It’s worth noting that there is a separation of sanctions there and it’s worth noting that a lot can happen in the meantime,” O’Keeffe said.
RTÉ News has reported that five Irish players are believed to have chosen not to travel to Latvia for the game.
“By not taking a firm stance, it’s up to the players to take a stand,” O’Keeffe said.
“We have to say a massive respect to the players who have taken a stand, but also at the same time no judgement to the others players who are going because it shouldn’t have been in their hands in the first place. The governing bodies, FIBA especially, should’ve taken it out of their hands,” she said.
All smiles as the Israeli basketball team pose with the IDF war machine ahead of Thursday's qualifier against Ireland.
— Irish Sport for Palestine (@Sport4Palestine) February 6, 2024
Defying public opinion, this is what Basketball Ireland and its CEO John Feehan have signed up to: Sports-washing Israeli genocide.
John Feehan says boycotting… pic.twitter.com/nLGYrJCfPt
In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, last night, the Irish Sport for Palestine group rejected Feehan’s claims that boycotting the Ireland-Israel game would be “ruinous” for Basketball Ireland.
“We say not in our name. Playing with Israel will forever be ‘ruinous’ for his and Basketball Ireland’s reputation,” the group said.
At least 27,585 people have been killed by Israel’s military campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks of 7 October, according to the health ministry in the Gaza Strip.
With reporting by Emma Duffy
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