A number of high-profile Dublin football personalities have launched a campaign to prevent Ireland’s planned Nations League fixtures with Israel from going ahead.
Ever since the draw was made in February, the prospect of Ireland playing Israel both home and away has become a new front in the Irish response to Israeli aggression in the Middle East.
A broad coalition of Irish football personalities – and some from the world of the arts – have signed an open letter, calling for the October fixtures not to be played.
Shamrock Rovers midfielder and World Cup-bound Roberto Lopes serves as head of the organisation, and has said the fixtures should not go ahead.
Lopes, who will be lining out for Cape Verde at the World Cup in June, said “we have to stop the game.”
“As players and fans, our natural instinct is always to get out there and compete, but this is a moment where we need to look at the bigger picture.”
“We can’t ignore the humanitarian catastrophe in Palestine; the sheer loss of life there has to take precedence over any sporting consideration,” he said.
“Ireland has an opportunity here to lead—to be a pioneer and do what others won’t. We need to be brave enough to say enough is enough. We can’t just stand by.”
The letter, sent to the FAI, reads “Irish fans are rightfully known as the best fans in the world, but this comes with a responsibility to the Irish people whom our country represents.”
Israel’s membership of UEFA was called into question, with the letter saying that Israel has breached UEFA and FIFA rules by playing on occupied Palestinian territory.
“As a member of UEFA, you have a duty to uphold these rules if UEFA will not.”
The letter said it was “inconceivable” that the world of Irish football would be “willing to be silent and give cover to apartheid and genocide in the name of football.”
Alongside Lopes, current League of Ireland players including Shelbourne striker Seán Boyd, Bohs players Ryan Burke, Dawson Devoy, Rachel Kelly, Alannah McEvoy, Sarah McKevitt and Tiegan Ruddy, and Pats defender Joe Redmond have also signed the letter.
Former Irish national team manager Brian Kerr, title-winning manager Roddy Collins, former goalkeeper Dave Henderson, and former Irish national defender Louise Quinn are other signatories from the world of football.
From the world of music, Fontaines DC, Christy Moore, Kneecap, Paul Weller, Mary Coughlan, Frances Black, Bobby Gillespie, Steve and Joe Wall, and Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello have backed the letter, as has actor Stephen Rea.
Last November, 93% of FAI members voted to instruct the association to boycott any future games against Israel – when the draw was made in February, the FAI received criticism in some quarters for saying that the games would go ahead.
Should Ireland forfeit the two games against Israel, Ireland will be six points down in UEFA Nations League qualifying, and RTÉ runs the risk of losing televised coverage of UEFA’s televised matches.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that the fixtures should go ahead, and asserted “there is no official boycott of Israel” from an Irish government perspective.
The Bill Shankly quote about football being more important than a matter of life and death springs to mind in this context.
In the aftermath of the draw being made, Jews for Palestine Ireland called on the Football Association of Ireland to boycott the matches.
They said “Palestinian football fans are routinely attacked by Israeli football hooligans given impunity by the genocidal Israeli state, while their clubs and sport infrastructure are targeted for demolition by the Israeli Defence Forces. In 2016, the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign created a timeline of state-sanctioned attacks since 2005. In 2019, the FIFA Palestine Cup was cancelled.”
They noted that participation of Palestinians in international sporting events is often blocked, and claimed “Ireland showed its complicity in this denial of basic Palestinian sporting rights by denying visa applications from GAA Palestine to travel here last summer.”
Ireland’s fixture against Israel is confirmed to take place in the Aviva Stadium on October 4, with the away fixture likely to be held in Budapest, Israel’s “home” ground since the invasion of Gaza started in 2023.
This month’s Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Vienna without the participation of Ireland, along with Spain, the Netherlands, Iceland and Slovenia, over the European Broadcasting Union continuing to allow Israeli participation in the competition.
In the football world, critics of UEFA and FIFA have pointed to the double standard of Russia being banned from international football in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, yet Israel is still allowed to take part despite their ongoing war against Gaza.
In August 2025, prominent Palestinian footballer Suleiman al-Obeid, referred to as “the Palestinian Pelé” was killed by Israeli forces as he was waiting in line to receive aid.
The United Nations reported that 2,615 people who were waiting in line to receive aid were killed by Israeli forces.
Upon al-Obeid’s death, UEFA posted a “farewell” to him on Twitter, dubbing him “a talent who gave hope to countless children, even in the darkest of times.”
Liverpool star Mohammad Salah took issue with UEFA ignoring the elephant in the room.
“Can you tell us how he died, where, and why?” he asked to his near 20 million-strong followers.