LAST UPDATE | 8 Feb

TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has said Ireland shouldn’t “disadvantage ourselves” by boycotting the game against Israel in today’s FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 Qualifier.

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. 

Ireland’s decision to fulfil today’s fixture has come under increased public scrutiny this week, forcing Basketball Ireland CEO John Feehan to repeatedly defend the decision not to withdraw.

Speaking to Newstalk’s Pat Kenny this morning, the Taoiseach said it is the team’s decision whether they play the game. 

He said he has a “very clear view” on the general issue of boycotts, be it sports, music and so on. 

“I don’t think we should disadvantage ourselves,” Varadkar said. 

“It’s one thing to expel Russia or expel Israel from certain sporting events or certain music events or contests, and I think that may well be appropriate, but for us to remove ourselves actually isn’t a good idea, in my view, because all we do is disadvantage ourselves,” he said. 

In a statement posted on social media last night, sports star Kieran Donaghy said Basketball Ireland needs to “have a rethink and be strong”. 

He said the organisation should withdraw the Irish women’s team from today’s game, adding that “it’s never too late to do the right thing”. 

Donaghy said it is a “shame” the players and coaching staff have been put in this position. 

“They have worked so hard to play at this level and represent their country and they do so with immense pride. This decision should not sit solely on their shoulders,” he said. 

RTÉ News reported yesterday that five Irish players are believed to have chosen not to travel to Latvia for the game. 

Donaghy, in his statement, criticised the FIBA governing bodies for “letting a country committing genocide” compete, adding that it is a “scandal in itself”.  

The Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport said in a statement today that “we must acknowledge” Basketball Ireland’s “independence and autonomy” in arriving at the decision to honour its fixture commitment today. 

“It should also be acknowledged that this situation places individual players in a very difficult position,” a spokesperson for the Department said. 

‘Anti-Semitic’ claims

Yesterday, Israeli basketball player Dor Sa’ar described the Ireland team as “anti-Semitic”.  

In an interview published on the Israeli Basketball Federation website, Sa’ar said: “It’s known that they are quite anti-Semitic and it’s no secret, and maybe that’s why a strong game is expected. We have to show that we’re better than them and win.”

Basketball Ireland responded yesterday evening in a statement issued to the Irish Independent.

The organisation said it is “extremely disappointed by these accusations, which are both inflammatory and wholly inaccurate”.

“Basketball Ireland would refute these allegations towards our players in the strongest possible terms and we have raised this matter with FIBA Europe.”

Varadkar told Pat Kenny this morning that he disagrees “profoundly” with the accusation the Irish team are anti-Semitic. 

“People who disagree with the policies and actions of the Israeli government aren’t anti-Semitic, per se,” Varadkar said. 

Minister of State for Sport Thomas Byrne also said today, in an interview with RTÉ, he “absolutely rejects” any allegation of anti-Semitism in Ireland. 

Basketball Ireland CEO John Feehan said Ireland is obliged to play this fixture as the ramifications 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.

At least 27,840 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 Niall Kelly