LONDON: Irish opposition parties have urged the government to support motions urging the country to refuse to play a football match with Israel, according to media reports on Tuesday (June 9), Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported.
Joanna Byrne, Sinn Fein's sports spokesperson, told reporters in Dublin that the government and the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) should "do the right thing" and "refuse to participate," public broadcaster RTE reported.
It comes ahead of a Sinn Fein party's motion due to be debated later Tuesday and a Social Democrats motion on Wednesday (June 10), amid public opposition in Ireland to the country's upcoming international football match against Israel.
The FAI said Monday (June 8) that its board was continuing to meet to "discuss the operational aspects" of hosting the men's international Nations League football fixture, which is due to be played Oct 4 in Dublin's Aviva Stadium.
Meanwhile, also speaking to reporters, Social Democrats lawmaker Sinead Gibney said the possible move to a neutral location for the Ireland-Israel match "puts us in the worst of all worlds," where "all of that pressure is going to be piled onto the players."
"And that's something we wanted to avoid from day one," she noted.
Gibney said the government should "block or exclude Israel from any international sporting competitions," and a "massive public sentiment" is being expressed through the "Stop the Game campaign."
The Social Democrats politician said she finds it "incredibly hypocritical" of government officials to say they would not attend any such match.
People Before Profit-Solidarity lawmakers Richard Boyd Barrett, Ruth Coppinger and Paul Murphy expressed similar concerns, with Barrett noting that "simply putting it to a neutral territory is not good enough."
Responding to leaked suggestions that the FAI is open to the match being moved from Dublin to Hungary, he stressed, "Our message is clear, the game should be stopped entirely and should not take place at a neutral venue.
Labour lawmaker Duncan Smith also said the fixture should be boycotted.
Aontu party leader Peadar Toibin said he does not think the match should go ahead and underlined that his party will be supporting opposition motions. — Bernama-Anadolu
