The Irish and Israeli national teams will not exchange jerseys after their matches

The players on the Ireland and Israel national teams will not exchange jerseys after their head-to-head matches in the Nations League. In addition, the head coaches of both teams are expected to forgo the traditional handshake.

The first match between the teams will take place on September 27 in Hungary, where the Israeli national team will be the nominal host, and the second on October 4 in Serbia. Earlier, UEFA rejected a request from the Irish side to separate these teams during the tournament draw.

About two kilometers from Dublin’s Aviva Stadium—where the Nations League home match against Israel will not take place after all—one can see eloquent evidence of the reasons behind this decision. Hanging on the facade of Liberty Hall (the headquarters of the country’s main labor union) is a huge banner calling on the national team: “Stop the Game.” A public campaign bearing the same name—whose organizers put up this banner—also urges: “Act on the call of your conscience—don’t play a game that borders on genocide.” Ireland’s head coach, Haimar Hallgrímsson, elaborated on this point during the team’s roster announcement last week, stating: “We are not playing *alongside* genocide—we are playing *against* genocide. We are playing against Israel, not *with* Israel.” This blunt statement came as a surprise but also reflected the sentiments of a significant portion of Irish society, which is actively reacting to this match, while at the same time angering the Israeli side.

Source: Independent.

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