Hallgrimsson: Uefa needs to think about player welfare

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The Republic is due to play Israel behind closed doors in Backa Topola in Serbia tonight, with the controversial game ending before the Star goes to press. Although last week’s game went ahead, Hallgrimsson has said the on-and-off-the-pitch tensions have affected player welfare.

Asked if there should be a conversation about Ireland and Israel meeting each other again, Hallgrimsson said: “That’s maybe a question that is not for me to answer.

“But given, now we have the possibility of looking back and seeing all the things that happened, I think Uefa must take that into consideration that they can’t have this happening again just for players’ welfare.”

In November, the Football Association of Ireland general assembly voted in favour of a motion “to issue a formal request to the Uefa executive committee for the immediate suspension of the Israel Football Association from Uefa competitions for a breach of Uefa statutes.”

Last Saturday, when it was announced the Debrecen match would go ahead after players voted to fulfil the fixture, FAI chief David Courell revealed players had requested to “effectively remove their media obligations for the rest of the window” due to the fact that they “felt uncomfortable” dealing with “all the questions … that were not about football.”

And Hallgrimsson’s pre-match press conference in Serbia on Saturday was also prematurely curtailed following an Israeli journalist’s accusation that Irish players had called Israeli players a racial slur. A Football Association of Ireland press officer responded that the accusation was “completely untrue” and the press conference was brought to an end.  

However, it was reported in Al Jazeera last week that it was Israeli fans who had been accused of shouting racist slogans at Republic of Ireland player Adam Idah. But no sanctions have yet been brought. 

Al Jazeera said that reports suggested that Uefa had confirmed that Israeli fans had been racially abusive towards Idah, but as Irish players and officials had failed to follow correct protocols in reporting the abuse, Uefa wasn’t able to investigate.

And as reported in the Star last week, protesters with Stop the Game interrupted Ireland’s 2-2 draw with Austria last Thursday by throwing tennis balls onto the field.

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