Ireland refuse handshake with Israel and don armbands in Nations League tie

Republic of Ireland football players again wear black armbands and refuse handshakes with Israel in UEFA Nations League.

Irish players bow their heads during the Israeli national anthem before the UEFA Nations League match [Darko Vojinovic/AP]

Ireland players again wore black armbands in recognition of Palestinians killed in Gaza and bowed their heads during the Israeli national anthem before the teams’ second UEFA Nations League football match on Sunday.

The League 3 Group B match ended in a 1-1 draw and, despite being played behind closed doors and on neutral ground, was once again played out in a confrontational manner.

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Ireland goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher stepped in as captain for Dara O’Shea, who was excused to be with his wife for the birth of their child, and pointedly avoided shaking hands with Israel captain Dor Peretz, despite completing the usual pre-match formality with the referee and one of his assistants.

Kelleher’s action was a repeat of O’Shea’s, who refused to shake Israel captain Manor Solomon’s hand before the first match in Debrecen, Hungary, last week. Ireland went on to win that game 3-0 through three first-half goals.

Solomon was dropped to the bench for Sunday’s match in Backa Topola, Serbia. Israel forward Sayed Abu Farchi was back in the squad after serving a suspension for getting sent off following his gun-simulation goal celebration during Israel’s 3-1 defeat to Austria on September 25.

Finn Azaz, whose mother has Israeli heritage, was among the Irish substitutes after playing from the start against Austria on Thursday.

Troy Parrott’s penalty in the 39th minute, after a foul by Peretz on Jimmy Dunne, gave Ireland a 1-0 halftime lead. A disagreement also broke out on the sidelines as the players made their way off the field for the interval, although the referee quickly intervened.

Peretz secured a point for Israel with a poked effort from close range in the 47th minute.

Sunday’s game was initially supposed to be played in Dublin, but the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) moved it to a neutral venue for “operational reasons” in June following widespread calls for a boycott in protest of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. The FAI said the game would be played with no fans present.

It followed the FAI’s motion the previous November calling on UEFA to ban Israel from club and international competitions.

All the Irish players had been under pressure from home – where affinity with Palestinians is strong – to boycott the second match against Israel, though the pressure was greater during the first game.

“I felt that pressure growing day by day, and it’s getting almost to a breaking limit now,” Ireland coach Heimir Hallgrimsson said at the time.

Ultimately, only reserve goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu decided to skip both of the contentious games, saying in a statement that it was his “personal belief that the killing of innocent people is wrong”.

More than 160 Irish sportspeople had signed an open letter urging the FAI to reconsider its decision to go ahead with the two games.

Before the departure for Hungary, people protested outside the team hotel in Dublin for the players to boycott the matches. The SIPTU trade union displayed a huge poster in central Dublin beside the River Liffey asking the players to “Go with your conscience!” and “Don’t play with genocide” beside an image of a blood-splattered ball.

Former Ireland coach Brian Kerr said the FAI had “lost the respect of the Irish people” for going ahead with the games.

But the FAI argued UEFA could sanction the team. Ireland is cohosting the 2028 European Championship with England, Wales and Scotland.

Protesters threw tennis balls with Palestinian flags onto the field during Ireland’s 2-2 draw with Austria on Thursday. A man with a Palestinian flag also tried running onto the field.

On Saturday, an Israeli journalist stated during the pre-match news conference that the Irish players had called the Israeli players “monkeys” during last week’s game, leading to an immediate rebuke from Irish communications officer Kieran Crowley, who said it was “a lie” and ended the news conference.

The players had only decided to go ahead with the fixtures after a dramatic day in Debrecen before the first match, when both the news conference and training were delayed for hours while they deliberated. They reportedly voted 14-8 in favour of continuing after Bazunu’s withdrawal that morning.

Ireland’s national broadcaster RTÉ was only providing stripped-back coverage of both games against Israel to meet contractual obligations. There was no studio presentation, commentary on the international feed, or analysis. RTÉ said it was not accepting advertising or sponsorship around either game.

RTÉ also recently announced that Ireland will boycott the Eurovision Song Contest for a second year due to Israel’s participation.

爱尔兰共和国足球运动员在欧洲国家联赛中再次佩戴黑色臂章，拒绝与以色列球员握手。

在欧足联国家联赛比赛开始前，爱尔兰球员在以色列国歌奏响时低头致意。[Darko Vojinovic/AP]

周日，在两队进行第二场欧洲国家联赛足球比赛之前，爱尔兰球员再次佩戴黑色臂章，以悼念在加沙遇难的巴勒斯坦人，并在奏以色列国歌时低头致意。

联赛3 B组的比赛以1-1平局结束，尽管是在闭门进行且在中立场地进行，但比赛再次以对抗的方式展开。

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（共四条，此为第二条）热苏斯表示，克里斯蒂亚诺·罗纳尔多如果愿意，可以重返葡萄牙国家队。

曼城泄密者平托称，他因泄密而“收到死亡威胁”（名单共4人，此为第3人）。

列表 4/4：印度在亚运会上击败巴基斯坦，赛后没有握手，颁奖仪式也推迟举行。

由于达拉·奥谢获准陪伴妻子迎接孩子的出生，爱尔兰门将凯莱赫临危受命，担任队长。尽管凯莱赫与裁判及其助理完成了赛前例行握手，但他却刻意避免与以色列队长多尔·佩雷茨握手。

凯莱赫的行为与奥谢如出一辙，奥谢在上周匈牙利德布勒森举行的首场比赛前拒绝与以色列队长马诺尔·所罗门握手。爱尔兰最终凭借上半场的三粒进球以3-0的比分赢得了那场比赛。

所罗门在周日于塞尔维亚巴奇卡托波拉举行的比赛中被安排在替补席上。以色列前锋赛义德·阿布·法尔奇此前因在9月25日以色列1-3负于奥地利的比赛中进球后做出模拟开枪庆祝动作而被红牌罚下，停赛期满后重返国家队。

芬恩·阿扎兹的母亲有以色列血统，他在周四对阵奥地利的比赛中首发出场，但在爱尔兰队的比赛中，他被列入了替补名单。

第39分钟，佩雷茨对吉米·邓恩犯规，特洛伊·帕罗特主罚点球命中，帮助爱尔兰队以1-0领先进入中场休息。中场休息时，球员们在场边发生争执，但裁判迅速介入制止。

第 47 分钟，佩雷茨近距离捅射破门，为以色列队扳平比分，拿到一分。

周日的比赛原定在都柏林举行，但由于以色列对加沙发动种族灭绝战争，引发广泛抵制呼声，爱尔兰足球协会（FAI）于6月以“运营原因”为由，将比赛移至中立场地。FAI表示，比赛将空场进行。

此前，爱尔兰足协于去年 11 月提出动议，呼吁欧足联禁止以色列参加俱乐部和国际比赛。

所有爱尔兰球员都承受着来自国内的压力——爱尔兰对巴勒斯坦人的亲近感很强——要求他们抵制与以色列的第二场比赛，尽管在第一场比赛期间这种压力更大。

“我感觉压力与日俱增，现在几乎要达到极限了，”爱尔兰队教练海米尔·哈尔格里姆松当时说道。

最终，只有替补门将加文·巴祖努决定缺席这两场充满争议的比赛，他在一份声明中表示，这是他“个人认为杀害无辜者是错误的”。

超过 160 名爱尔兰运动员签署了一封公开信，敦促爱尔兰足协重新考虑继续进行这两场比赛的决定。

在球队启程前往匈牙利之前，都柏林球迷在球队下榻的酒店外举行抗议，要求球员抵制比赛。爱尔兰服务、工业、专业和技术工会（SIPTU）在都柏林市中心利菲河畔竖起一张巨幅海报，上面写着“遵从你的良心！”和“不要与种族灭绝同流合污！”，旁边还配有一张血迹斑斑的足球图片。

爱尔兰前主教练布莱恩·克尔表示，爱尔兰足协继续举办比赛“已经失去了爱尔兰人民的尊重”。

但爱尔兰足协认为欧足联可以对该队进行处罚。爱尔兰与英格兰、威尔士和苏格兰共同主办2028年欧洲杯。

周四爱尔兰与奥地利2-2战平的比赛中，抗议者向场内投掷印有巴勒斯坦国旗的网球。一名男子还试图挥舞巴勒斯坦国旗冲入场内。

周六，一名以色列记者在赛前新闻发布会上声称，爱尔兰球员在上周的比赛中称以色列球员为“猴子”，这立即遭到爱尔兰通讯官基兰·克劳利的驳斥，他称这是“谎言”，并结束了新闻发布会。

在首场比赛前于德布勒森经历了一场戏剧性的风波后，球员们最终决定继续进行比赛。当天，新闻发布会和训练都因球员们的商议而推迟了数小时。据报道，在巴祖努当天上午退出比赛后，球员们以14比8的投票结果决定继续进行比赛。

爱尔兰国家广播公司RTÉ仅为履行合同义务，对爱尔兰对阵以色列的两场比赛仅提供了精简版报道。没有演播室解说，国际信号也没有解说或分析。RTÉ表示，他们不会接受任何与这两场比赛相关的广告或赞助。

爱尔兰国家广播电视台（RTÉ）近日也宣布，由于以色列参赛，爱尔兰将连续第二年抵制欧洲歌唱大赛。