David Sneyd The 42

THIS WAS ALWAYS going to be an international window with a difference for the Republic of Ireland, but when Israel were pulled out of the hat alongside them in Group B3 of the Nations League last February, the FAI was faced with its worst-case scenario.

Chief executive David Courell confirmed in a media briefing on Friday that the association never asked Uefa for the countries be kept apart before the draw and that it was only subsequently that they formalised such a request.

Uefa rejected it.

“The answer I got was very clear. That would not be possible, because Ireland and Israel have never been in direct conflict. That was an answer that I took at face value,” Courell said.

This is the first four-game international window for the Republic of Ireland and two of the fixtures with Israel will dominate discussion. A trip to play Kosovo in Pristina on 24 September followed by the visit of Austria to Dublin on 1 October pale into insignificance given the depth of feeling and emotion surrounding the decision to fulfil these games with Israel.

So what has been the timeline to get to this point?

November 2025: Members of the FAI’s General Assembly voted 74 to 7 in favour of submitting a motion to Uefa to ban Israel from its club and international competitions.
The proposal cited two alleged violations of Uefa statutes by the Israel Football Association (IFA). They were organising clubs in occupied Palestinian territories without the consent of the Palestinian FA; and the alleged failure of the IFA to enforce an effective anti-racism policy.

Afterwards, FAI president Paul Cooke revealed he contacted his counterparts at the Israeli FA before the EGM vote “out of courtesy and respect” and when asked what would happen in a hypothetical situation should the countries be drawn together, he said: “Straight off the bat, we would play them, provided it was part of a UEFA competition.”

Well, that became a reality.

February 2026: One month after the FAI wrote to its General Assembly confirming Uefa had rejected its motion, citing its “commitment to fairness, integrity and equal treatment across all member associations”, Ireland and Israel were paired alongside Kosovo and Austria.

It was the catalyst for increased political and societal focus.

May and June 2026: Stop The Game protest group temporarily halts the friendly with Qatar in Dublin by throwing tennis balls on the pitch. The FAI cites “operational challenges” as the reason for deciding to move the home game with Israel from the Aviva Stadium to Backa Topola, 90 minutes from Belgrade, in Serbia. The 42 revealed earlier this month that Uefa provided a shortlist of venues to choose from and all were based in Serbia. This game will take place on 4 October while Israel’s designated home game will be in Debrecen, Hungary, as Uefa have not allowed them to play on home soil for security reasons since 2023.

July 2026: This was a key moment for the FAI. While the initial motion – proposed by Bohemians among others – sought an outright boycott of Israel, this was deemed to be in conflict with FAI rules.

Instead, at an EGM, a motion was tabled by the association’s board calling for members to support the decision to play Israel at neutral venues, to endorse playing all of their Nations League fixtures, and did not mention Israel outright but instead “the strength of feeling regarding support for Palestine”.

The FAI also wrote a letter of more than 2,000 words to its General Assembly prior to the EGM predicting that not fulfilling the fixtures would cost the FAI a minimum of €5.5 million, potentially rising to double that in the medium to long term.

The motion to fulfil the fixtures passed 75 votes to 32, with three abstentions.

And then we arrived at this past week. On Monday, FAI director of football John Martin said it was on his shoulders – as well as Courell’s – that the decision to play the game rests.

Head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson announced his squad for the four-game window on Thursday and acknowledged that he had spoken to his players on a one-to-one basis about their feelings.

He cited the importance of finishing first or second in the Nations League to secure being second seeds for qualifying for Euro 2028. Ireland, of course, are co-hosts of that tournament along with England, Scotland and Wales but are not guaranteed qualification, although two spots will be held for any of the four who do not qualify directly.

When Courell was asked on Friday if he sought a definitive response from Uefa on what the consequence for a boycott would be, he said: “Of course I did, and they said ‘well, if this scenario presents then a disciplinary hearing will be scheduled and the sanctions will be agreed based on the facts and the situation that presents’.”

When it was put to him that could be considered a veiled threat from Uefa, Courell said: “It is absolutely not. I do not interpret that… Please don’t walk away from here saying Uefa have threatened. They simply confirmed what their process is and they would not be able to make an informed decision because it’s a separate independent body that comes to that decision.”

This week is also the last we will hear from anyone involved in the Ireland squad until the Uefa-mandated pre-match press conference before the game with Kosovo next Thursday. Ordinarily there would be at least one full day of media activity with a member of the coaching staff and a handful of players before they leave Dublin. Not now.

In a statement, the FAI said it was in “interests of the players, the team and the preparation”. 

While Courell said these games were not being played under protest, he did detail examples of how they were scaling back their usual operation and explained that “Respect messaging” would be displayed around the perimeter of the pitch in Serbia instead of the usual advertising.

Sponsors will also not be visible in any official backdrops to interviews and, as revealed by The 42 last week, RTÉ is to significantly scale back its own operation with no television studio coverage or any of their own commentators on duty.

They are rights holders but will instead use a world feed provided by Uefa. It’s understood the national broadcaster have been in the process of exploring how this will affect their own advertising during the broadcast.

Furthermore, the FAI have requested not to host their Israeli counterparts in any pre-match gatherings, but they will play the anthems in the TSC Arena in Backa Topola, 90 minutes from Belgrade, while also raising the flag and exchanging match pennants.

It has also been decided by some members of the Soccer Writers Ireland who would usually cover the national team to boycott the games with Israel. They cited “ethical grounds” when deciding not to travel to report on the events. 

The 42 has decided to cover the games purely on the basis that no one travelling will do so like anything normal – or moral – about what is happening. How could we?

While we respect our colleagues’ stance, we have taken a different approach. These are Republic of Ireland games like no other. They will not be treated in the same way previous fixtures would be.

To be there and report on what is happening within the context of what a UN commission – and others – consider a genocide in Gaza seems even more important. This is not justification for attending or normalising Israel’s participation in sport.

No one is turning a blind eye to the realities of the devastation in the West Bank and Gaza.

But by being there we will be able to report on the grim, desperate reality of where and how these games are taking place rather than a watered-down version of the truth that serves no one.