Ireland to fulfil Israel fixtures after player vote as Bazunu tells squad he will not play
The FAI chief executive David Courell has confirmed that the Republic of Ireland will fulfill the Nations League fixture against Israel at the Nagyerdei Stadium in Debrecen on Sunday night following a “significant majority” vote by the Irish players on Friday afternoon. Gavin Bazunu is the only player to pull out of the game. “All the rest of the players are at training today,” said Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson. “The game is going ahead but there will be more discussions tonight and tomorrow. We are trying to limit the damage.” Bazunu informed the squad on Friday that he did not wish to participate in the Israel games, tomorrow and on October 4th behind closed doors in Bačka Topola, Serbia. Hallgrímsson did not speak to Bazunu before he linked up with the group last week. Courell would not reveal the vote numbers. The Irish players will not do any media duties in Hungary, or against Austria in Dublin on October 1st and the “home match against Israel in Serbia on October 4th. The Ireland players will wear black armbands, Courell said, “for all lives lost in the conflict,” with revenue from the Austria game at the Aviva Stadium to be donated to an unnamed charity - the players will also donate their match fees. There will be no handshakes or a pennant exchange with Israeli players before kick-off. Israel have already indicated that they will not swap jerseys. “Nobody is comfortable playing this game for so many reasons,” said Hallgrímsson. “We are trying to tackle it in the best way we can at the moment.” Asked by the Israeli media if he regrets saying Israel are committing “genocide” in Gaza, Hallgrímsson replied: “I used a strong word definitely and the wrong word for me to use. “There is a huge support in Europe, with the biggest support in Ireland, for Palestine. There is pressure in Ireland and protests to not play this fixture. I felt that pressure growing day by day and it is almost getting to a breaking limit now. “By playing we are not accepting or supporting what is happening in Gaza.” Hallgrímsson, who said the talks with the players are ongoing, was joined at a rescheduled press conference this afternoon by Courell and the FAI director of football John Martin. “The players feel they are doing something wrong by playing this game with the pressure from Ireland and from your own people,” he added. “That is not a good feeling.” The Icelandic coach was asked questions by Israeli journalists about coaching in Qatar and Ireland playing “Nazi Germany” in the 1930s. Courell said: “An extensive conversation took place in Pristina yesterday where there was a consensus in the group to travel to Hungary after a two-hour meeting. “This morning a player [Bazunu] expressed his discomfort with fulfilling the fixture to the head coach, and his intent to withdraw from the squad. “This new variable required time and deliberation for the rest of the squad to consider. Another four hours of conversations took place, predominantly with the players themselves but at times with the coaching staff and at times with the executive. “There were a lot of positions presented. We respect everyone’s right to have an opinion on these topics. “In the last 90 minutes,” Courell added, ”we carried out a vote amongst the squad to establish their sentiment on fulfilling the fixtures and a significant majority was returned with the intention to continue. “Based on that, the FAI the took the decision on behalf of Irish football that this fixture would continue as we always intended.” When asked if the players are in the right frame of mind to play an international, Hallgrímsson said: “We will see. We don’t know what the consequences will be if we don’t play the game. There are two choices that are tough and bad, it is kind of a situation we cannot win.” Uefa rules stipulate that teams must have three goalkeepers in a match day squad which gives the FAI two options to replace Bazunu, call up a third-choice goalkeeper, potentially Everton’s Mark Travers or Josh Keely from Luton Town, or designate an outfield player to provide cover behind Caoimhín Kelleher and Max O’Leary. Uefa and Israel FA officials at the stadium this morning had no prior knowledge that the Ireland press conference and training would be postponed. The FAI “postponed” the initial press conference 20 minutes before it was due to start at 10.15am (9.15am Irish time). Training was also postponed. At 1pm, following the vote, Irish players were seen streaming out of a meeting on the ground floor of their hotel, the Mercure in Debrecen city centre, before it was confirmed that the press conference was rescheduled for 3.30pm (2.30pm Irish time). The Professional Footballers’ Association of Ireland (PFAI) offered their services in recent weeks, but the players decided to deal directly with FAI. The established leaders in the squad - Nathan Collins and Séamus Coleman – did not travel to Hungary. Collins recently injured his calf playing for Brentford and Coleman agreed with Hallgrímsson to not be selected unless he finds a club having left Everton in the summer. Courell missed the 1-0 defeat to Kosovo in Pristina on Thursday as he was meeting with the Government ahead of the Budget, but he flew into Hungary on Friday afternoon. Courell did not directly answer a question about whether his position is now untenable. Courell said: “We gave adequate time across 20 to 30 players where we discussed all the logic the FAI board took into account when making this decision in the summer.” The Israel press conference with manager Ran Ben Shimon and captain Eliel Peretz is at 6pm (5pm Irish time). Republic of Ireland Squad - UEFA Nations League Goalkeepers: Caoimhin Kelleher (Brentford), Max O’Leary (West Bromwich Albion). Defenders: James Abankwah (Udinese), Joel Bagan (Cardiff City), Jimmy Dunne (Queens Park Rangers), John Egan (Hull City), Liam Kitching (Sheffield United), Ryan Manning (Southampton), Jake O’Brien (Everton), Dara O’Shea (Ipswich Town), Liam Scales (Celtic). Midfielders: Finn Azaz (Southampton), Conor Coventry (Charlton Athletic), Jason Knight (Bristol City), Jayson Molumby (West Bromwich Albion), Killian Phillips (St. Mirren). Forwards: Owen Elding (Hibernian), Adam Idah (Swansea City), Jack Moylan (Cardiff City), Chiedozie Ogbene (Lincoln City), Troy Parrott (Real Betis), Rocco Vata (Watford), Tom Cannon (Sheffield United).