These are not really images that we are used to seeing on sports fields.
This Thursday, February 8, in qualifying for the 2025 women's basketball Euro, the Irish team faced the Israeli team, and the pre-match was frosty to say the least.
The Irish team made the decision not to take part in the pre-match protocol, and therefore not to join the Israeli players for the anthems or to shake their hands.
The anthems of Ireland and Israel from todays international in Riga
Ireland remained along the sideline during the anthems as part of a refusal to take part in pre-match ceremonies.
Yesterday an Israeli player said of the Ireland team: 'it's known that they are quite antisemitic' pic.twitter.com/ITxJGxELYu
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) February 8, 2024
A decision taken following comments made by one of the Israeli players, Dor Saar, relayed on the official channels of the federation and qualifying the Irish as “quite anti-Semitic”: “It’s not a secret, and it This is perhaps why we expect a tough match.
We know they don't like us and we will leave everything on the field.
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Ireland risked a big fine if they didn't play the match
Comments that the Irish federation had described as “inflammatory and totally inaccurate”.
This speech followed a press release from the Irish Basketball Federation, in which it explained that it had “expressed to Fiba Europe their serious concerns regarding these meetings with Israel, including the option of not playing the matches .
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An option which was only ruled out, according to this press release, because it would have cost the Irish team too much.
“Basketball Ireland faces a fine from FIBA Europe of up to €80,000 if we do not play the match against Israel.
An additional fine of up to 100,000 euros would also be imposed if we do not play the second leg later in the year.
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Also read “We understood how vital playing was”: Hapoel Tel-Aviv, a basketball team on a mission
Ireland would also have been withdrawn from qualifying for Euro 2025 as well as 2027, "which would result in an effective ban on our senior women's team from participating in international competitions for five years."
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Irish coach James Weldon praised “incredible maturity in the way the players handled a very tense week”, specifying that “we did not participate in pre-match activities due to unwarranted and unacceptable comments from the camp Israeli on our players.
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