Ireland soccer boss says team ‘raised awareness’ about Gaza during Israel game

DUBLIN, Ireland — Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson says his team had “raised awareness worldwide” about the Gaza conflict after they chose not to shake hands with Israeli players before their 3-0 Nations League win in Hungary.

The Irish players wore black armbands in recognition of all lives lost in the conflict in Sunday’s match in Debrecen, bowing their heads as the Israeli national anthem was played at the near-empty stadium.

The teams skipped the traditional pre-match handshakes and did not exchange pennants.

The game, in which Israel was the nominal host, had been in doubt earlier in the week until Ireland’s team voted to fulfill the fixture, despite player unease over the war in Gaza, which was sparked by the Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

Only one player, goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, pulled out, saying “it would be wrong to participate” in either the match or the return fixture in Serbia on October 4 due to the “killing of innocent people.”

“It has been so difficult for so many players,” Icelander Hallgrimsson tells broadcaster RTE after the game.

“I hope that will not be in the next game because they have shown support to the protest, they have raised awareness worldwide, not only in Ireland, on the subject and that is normally the reason for protesting, to raise awareness of a situation.

“I think these players have done that with all their actions, with all that they have been saying. No more than Gavin Bazunu, but the others have done it here on the pitch and how they have shown their actions, so I hope people understand that.”