Ireland's Men's National Team is set to play Israel on September 27 and October 4 during the group stage of the UEFA Nations League.

Nearly 200 Irish athletes have signed an open letter urging Ireland's Senior Men's National Team to refuse to play its upcoming UEFA Nations League fixtures against Israel.

The open letter was organized by Irish Sport for Palestine, which says its mission is to "support, through Irish sport, Palestinian freedom, justice and equality."

Irish Sport for Palestine told IrishCentral on Monday afternoon that 180 Irish athletes had signed their names to the open letter so far.

Ireland is due to play Israel on September 27 and again on October 4 during the group stage of the UEFA Nations League.

The September 27 match is set to be played at Nagyerdei Stadion in Debrecen, Hungary, with Israel as the 'home' team.

The October 4 match was initially to be played in Dublin's Aviva Stadium, but has since been moved to "a neutral venue" - TSC Arena in Bačka Topola, Serbia - due to "operational challenges." Season Ticket holders are being offered the value of the behind-closed-doors fixture, where Ireland is set to be the 'home' team.

Irish Sport for Palestine's open letter to the Irish senior men’s national football team:

To the Irish Senior Men’s National Team,

As athletes, we’re taught that all players are equal and everyone is bound by the same rules on a level playing field. But these universal values are incompatible with the reality of sport where oppressive and discriminatory structures are reproduced. And nowhere is this more obvious than in Palestine, where fairness and equality are denied by the Israeli occupation and then enabled by sporting bodies.

We have been unequivocal in our call to cancel the two upcoming UEFA Nations League games because we believe playing Israel legitimises a genocidal regime and gives cover for statute violations, apartheid, and war crimes. We refuse to let sport be used in this way.

We have maintained pressure on decision makers because no player should be put in this position. The FAI, UEFA, and the Irish Government have all failed you by not taking decisive action and taking this out of your hands. They should have refused to play based on clear legal, moral, and political grounds – their own precedents, ongoing statute breaches regarding Israeli teams playing on occupied Palestinian lands, a brutal system of apartheid, and now, acts of genocide.

Instead, they have doubled down on playing, ignored the wishes of members, acted cowardly and dishonestly by moving the games, and have disrespected the majority of players, fans, and communities across Ireland.

So now we appeal to you, as athletes, to act collectively with conscience. We have all competed to the highest level of our respective sports, and some of us have even represented our country, so we understand what it takes to get here – the time, dedication, and sacrifice. We also know what it takes to uphold the values of sport and act with fairness, equality, and respect, which is why we call upon you, as a team, to refuse to participate in the two games against Israel.

This is a significant moment, and with this moment you have an opportunity to do the right thing. Putting on the Irish jersey and representing your country means something. But the Ireland we want represented is the one that remembers its roots in anti-colonial and anti-imperial resistance, which Irish sport played a large part of.

This moment symbolises something deeper, it is bigger than sport. But in a way this IS sport. Not playing the game would be the most sporting thing you could do. Through your leadership and courage, it would show the power of sport to unite, remind us of the shared values that connect us all, and have an impact far beyond the game.

We urge you to meet the moment and Stop The Game. Ireland is behind you on this.

Irish Sport for Palestine highlighted the following signatories:

  • Irish rugby: Tony Ward, Trevor Hogan, Jenny Murphy, Claire Molloy, Sharon Lynch, Paula Fitzpatrick, Lynne Cantwell, Deirbhile Nic a Bháird, Grace Davitt
  • Irish athletics: Ciara Mageean, Maisy O'Sullivan, Iseult O'Donnell
  • Irish football: Louise Quinn, Savannah Kane, Luke Byrne 
  • Irish para athletes: Mark Rohan, Jack Squibb, Jamie Wall, Alan Dineen
  • Irish boxing: Tyrone McKenna, Eric Donovan, Séan McComb, Fergal McCrory
  • Irish basketball: Rebecca O'Keeffe, Jessica Scannell
  • Irish surfing: Easkey Britton
  • Irish cycling: Paul Norton
  • Camogie: Sinéad Wylde, Claire Coffey, Jane Adams
  • LGFA: Valerie Mulcahy, Nodlaig Ní Bhrollaigh
  • Dual players: Rena Buckley, Kieran McKeever
  • GAA: Padraig O'Hora, Joe Brolly, Colm O'Rourke, Gary Coleman, Davey Byrne, Killian O'Gara, Michael Darragh Macauley, David Hickey, Philly McMahon, Colm McAlarney
  • Hurling: Timmy Hammersley, Ciarán Herron
  • Ultimate Frisbee: Stephen Jones

Ireland v Israel controversy

Irish Sport for Palestine's open letter comes after months of controversy surrounding the matches and, more broadly, Israel's participation in international football. 

Last autumn, UN experts and Amnesty International each called for Israel to be suspended from international football due to the genocide in Palestine.

In November, the FAI's General Assembly voted in favor of the FAI submitting a formal motion to the UEFA Executive Committee requesting the immediate suspension of the Israel Football Association from UEFA Competitions.

The FAI said in June that it "continues to reflect the sentiment" of that motion, adding that the motion had been submitted to UEFA and that the FAI has consulted with UEFA officials for almost two years on the issue.

The FAI also said in June that despite its motion and continued sentiment, it recognizes the UEFA rules and regulations it agreed to, which outline that "if an association refuses to play a match, then that fixture will be forfeited and further disciplinary measures may follow – including potential disqualification from the competition."

At an Extraordinary General Meeting on July 8, FAI General Assembly members voted in favor of a motion that read: "While acknowledging the strength of feeling regarding support for Palestine and the upcoming UEFA Men’s Nations League fixtures, that the members recognise the profound impact that any non-fulfilment of UEFA fixtures would have on Irish football as a whole and on its future development, and accordingly endorses the Association fulfilling its obligations in respect of those fixtures.”

Last week, FAI President Paul Cooke met and spoke with UEFA chief Aleksander Čeferin about the Israel fixtures. According to the Irish Mirror, it was the latest communication between the two bodies on the issue since last December, when the FAI submitted a motion to Europe’s governing body requesting the suspension of Israel.

FAI CEO David Courell said Cooke tried to impress upon Čeferin “the scale of sentiment in Ireland” on the subject of Israel’s atrocities in Gaza.

“This is something that we, the FAI, and the Irish people feel very strongly about, and we would like to see change at an institutional level. So that's the way the conversations are going,” Courell said, the Irish Mirror reports.

Meanwhile, UEFA has rejected an FAI request for Ireland and Israel not to be drawn against each other in future matches. Courell said: "The answer I got was very clear. That would not be possible, because Ireland and Israel have never been in direct conflict."

Elsewhere, RTÉ has confirmed it will honor its contractual commitment to screen both fixtures, while keeping its own production involvement to a minimum. This comes after SIPTU, Ireland's largest trade union, calls upon the Irish national broadcaster to boycott the fixtures.

On Monday, the same day the Irish Sport for Palestine open letter was circulated,  the Israel Football Association slammed Ireland's head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson for his comments about the upcoming fixtures.

"...we’re not playing with genocide, we’re playing against genocide," Hallgrímsson said during a press conference last week. "So we’re playing against Israel. We’re not playing with Israel."

In response, the Israel FA accused Hallgrímsson of "stupidity, ignorance and hypocrisy."